331–340 of 406 posts
It's hilarious that this came out the day after Steve Yegge lambasted Google for failing to innovate. This is a perfect example of Google arriving half way through the race. Everyone else is on the final lap, they're on the first, and they think they're running neck and neck.
Who is on the "final lap" here?
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The same thing that happens in the non-Waze case: you kick them out, call the police, get mugged etc. The pure software world exists from Google's perspective, they provide zero support and then it's just a matter of individual choice if you want to use the service or not. Google can go a long way into making this significantly safer than random pick-up: you can select female only drivers or riders, only riders from…
> The same thing that happens in the non-Waze case: you kick them out, call the police, get mugged etc. It's not so simple. Normally people, at least in cities, rarely hitchhike or take up hitchhikers. The goal here is to make it acceptable, and naturally greatly increase the frequency this is happening. This can be reasonably taken as an endorsement by Google to the driver/passenger, because it is -- they want this…
Unfortunately the reality of the situation is: Even with Uber / Lyft there are instances of groping and rape. Once you are in someone's car they have power over you. They don't have to stop. They can threaten to crash the car, etc. And without any vetting this is a risky move.
This can absolutely not survive without some sort of support.
While others say "people already hitchhike" the truth is yes, and there's no liable company so people get paranoid and such. This app will enable a bigger scale which causes more issues.
The really big difference between Waze Carpool and Uber/Lyft is that the driver is paid at most 54 cents a mile (e.g., gas money), and Waze will only match the driver with passengers for two trips / day. So it is not designed to be something where the driver will make a living, but really just as a way for a driver to get some company, maybe take advantage of the HOV lanes, and it gets some cars off of the road to re…
Hell, I bet users will even sit in the front seat together.
The reason why I would not consider Google to legitimately compete with Uber/Lyft at scale in this arena is because it's not part of their nature to staff customer support at the level required to run operationally-intensive businesses. The rate in which something goes wrong in the real world (esp where money in exchanged) is much higher than in a pure software world, and Google is going to try to take the FAQ/chatbo…
I actually read the Waze t&c when I signed up many years ago, the lack of privacy is astounding, they have pretty much all of your location data from driving which did make me feel more secure.
"We believe there is no stupid question, just ask if you need answers."
But then they give you no place to ask questions...
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If this is the logic behind Waze Carpool, they are SERIOUSLY misguided. If I own a car and and I’m driving to work, my privacy and security during my commute is worth a lot more than $5. No way I’m picking up randos and sitting in silence with them for an hour for a measly coffee.
I think one of the key benefits for some users is that they can use the HOV lane and save a good chunk of time every day. And many people aren't like you - they might make minimum wage and gas is a big expense for them. Now I wouldn't do it for the reasons you mentioned but we must remember that we're a fortunate group.
Even though I was going ~20 miles in the carpool lane most of the time, the 10 minutes they saved would be wiped out by the 15-20 minutes they had to go out of their way to pick me up and drop me off. Everyone told me I was the only one going that far, most of the carpools they could only use the carpool lane for 3-4 miles which didn't save any time.
Other than that, I had two drivers who wanted to do their part to save the earth by carpooling which were fine. I also had two drivers who were nice but just really wanted the gas money. Those drivers both had really old cars that were dirty with trash and seemed poorly maintained. While they were ok drivers, I really did question if the tires were bald or what would happen if we were in an accident.
The reason why I would not consider Google to legitimately compete with Uber/Lyft at scale in this arena is because it's not part of their nature to staff customer support at the level required to run operationally-intensive businesses. The rate in which something goes wrong in the real world (esp where money in exchanged) is much higher than in a pure software world, and Google is going to try to take the FAQ/chatbo…
I think GOOG is perfectly capable of upping their game to- and above UBER/Lyft levels. Even if it would require unthinkable religious sacrifice of actually providing live human support from GOOG side.
Folks from Silicon Valley should ask VCs to sponsor them trip to Europe, where what they are essentially to solve is addressed. It's called public transportation.
A few other similar services http://libretaxi.org most of it open source except dependency on telegram http://www.twogo.com by SAP For young adults hopskipdrive.com ridezum.com zemcar.com One thing to note is that there are two apps you need from waze.The waze app is for driver of the carpool.Carpool app is for the rider.
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I would've refrained from sharing if you hadn't mention project Fi. Me calling in to get my Nexus 5x fixed was such a piss poor experience that I would never consider them for mobile service again.
That's crazy, because I had the exact opposite experience. Everytime I've called Project Fi support, I've gotten great help, and they replaced my 5x with a refurbished one for free very quickly when it got stuck in a reboot loop.