It kinda' does, doesn't it?

Re: the "hobby" part is where I agree with you the most. Where you say it's not solving genuine problems is where I differ the most.

It really feels to me like Comma is staffed by people who recognize that they never stopped enjoying playing with Lego -- their bricks just grew up, and they realized they can:

1) solve real-world problems

2) not be jerks about it

3) get paid to do it

Not everything has to be about optimizing for #3.

I'm a happy paying customer of Comma.ai (Comma four, baby!) -- their product is awesome, extremely consumer-friendly, and I hope they can grow in their success!