Elon Musk’s Everything App ‘X’ Is a Bad Idea: Parmy Olson

Elon Musk likes to “go big or go home.” So it was no surprise after news broke that he was buying Twitter Inc. after all, that he would tease a huge ambition for the company:

Musk is not simply buying Twitter to make it better. He claims a much grander plan: creating an “everything app” that does whatever you need.

The idea is not preposterous. Several so-called “super apps” have long existed in Asia. More than a billion Chinese citizens use QR codes through Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat to do all manner of tasks, from buying groceries to booking a dentist appointment, sharing photos with friends or playing video games. They can access a government-issued ID ...