Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo • Hacker News Board

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#51

Post by franciscop » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:10 PM UTC

brianbreslin wrote: post #45

I went to Japan last year and speak rudimentary japanese. One big challenge for taxi use was always explaining where I needed to go. If I could have plugged in the address in an app, I would have saved myself some confusion. That said, the Tokyo taxi drivers know the city better than any driver I've ever seen ever. GPS is almost a complete waste on them.

I normally use one of the two options: - Say somewhere famous that is very near, like a train station - Say the exact address, like "Shibuya ku, icchome no ..." then they will say something that means "address", you confirm and just repeat it as they type in the GPS.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#52

Post by discordance » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:10 PM UTC

CPLX wrote: post #21

needle0 wrote: post #3

I've used JapanTaxi (mentioned in the article) a fair number of times, and while there's nothing wrong with the experience of the app, oftentimes the biggest competitor to these ride-hailing apps is the fact that Tokyo's roads are so densely populated with taxis cruising everywhere that it's often faster to just hail one passing by than to open an app on your phone. I feel the Uber service itself has a sort of a 'pre…

I’ve only been in Tokyo once ten years ago but I remember the regular taxis there being staggeringly expensive. Are app based rides really more expensive than that?

400y ($3.68 USD) for the first 1km and then 80y ($0.74 USD)/400m after that.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#53

Post by ekianjo » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:11 PM UTC

beatgammit wrote: post #36

ekianjo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony is not "one company", they have tons of independent branches/divisions working separately on different projects, so the failure of one group does not infer the failure of another.

Then why is it that every Sony product I've used feels clunky? Perhaps it is an issue with their approach to QA than any of the individual teams. If so, I don't expect this app to be any different. Regardless, if people associate your brand with "clunky", they'll find reasons to dislike even a quality app. You really need to be consistent across your product lines to benefit from brand recognition.

> Then why is it that every Sony product I've used feels clunky?

Because good design is rare in general? Most products are designed very poorly, and big corporations are no exception.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#54

Post by mlacks » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:17 PM UTC

citruspi wrote: post #17

ginko wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> feel the Uber service itself has a sort of a 'premium' feeling around it in Japan, with the cars/staff/pricing being higher-class than the run-of-the-mill taxis you can hail. Isn't the average Japanese taxi some big Toyota Crown sedan already? How much more premium than that can you go?

> Isn't the average Japanese taxi some big Toyota Crown sedan already? How much more premium than that can you go? Toyota Century :) https://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-new-emperor-picks-his-ri... Edit: Super short TL;DR from the article > Introduced in 1967, the Century isn’t for the flashy or hasty. Prospective customers can wait months because Toyota hand-builds each one. Background checks ensure the buyer is of a…

It’s not the Century, it’s the Comfort.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Comfort

The Century was designed for CEOs and heads of state, the Comfort was designed as a general purpose Taxi.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#55

Post by lowtto » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:22 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #53

beatgammit wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why is it that every Sony product I've used feels clunky? Perhaps it is an issue with their approach to QA than any of the individual teams. If so, I don't expect this app to be any different. Regardless, if people associate your brand with "clunky", they'll find reasons to dislike even a quality app. You really need to be consistent across your product lines to benefit from brand recognition.

> Then why is it that every Sony product I've used feels clunky? Because good design is rare in general? Most products are designed very poorly, and big corporations are no exception.

big corps moves much slower, and they have bigger teams. its like food with too much seasonings.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#56

Post by di_ry » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:26 PM UTC

Are we ignoring the fact that it's called Ass Ride?

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#57

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

franciscop wrote: post #50

enz wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I feel the Uber service itself has a sort of a 'premium' feeling around it in Japan, with the cars/staff/pricing being higher-class than the run-of-the-mill taxis you can hail. Even for a limo-class car, it's hard to beat the Toyota "JPN Taxi" model. Thoses high roof taxis are so fine! Besides, being able to pay with a Suica card is very convenient.

Love paying with a suica for taxi and basically anything, I've stopped taking any taxi that does not accept it and I'm considering changing my laundry place just because of this.

American here. What makes "suica" a superior contactless payment method?

EDIT: Thanks for the replies! Seems it's a more full featured version of Chicago's Ventra card.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#58

Post by magduf » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:47 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #57

franciscop wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Love paying with a suica for taxi and basically anything, I've stopped taking any taxi that does not accept it and I'm considering changing my laundry place just because of this.

American here. What makes "suica" a superior contactless payment method? EDIT: Thanks for the replies! Seems it's a more full featured version of Chicago's Ventra card.

Lots of places in Japan don't take Visa/Mastercard, so it's either Suica/Pasmo or cash. There's tons of vending machines, for instance, but they don't take credit cards, but a lot of them do take Suica. Suica is basically a debit card; you put money on it (there's terminals at all the subway stations) and then spend it on the subway/train fares and also at other places that accept it, like vending machines, taxis, and various establishments.

The only thing I didn't like about Suica/Pasmo when I was in Japan was that, unlike a credit card, there doesn't seem to be a way to get a statement so you can see where you spent all your money. But I was only there for 2 weeks as a tourist, so maybe it's possible to get access to that and I just didn't find it.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#59

Post by bonestamp2 » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:47 PM UTC

odiroot wrote: post #7

Vizarddesky wrote: post #6

Doesn’t matter, nobody will use it. Taxi service in japan is good enough to where this won’t be a big factor. Ride hailing services are much more expensive than taxi’s.

Are taxis there not trying to scam you as it is everywhere in the EU?

From my experience, most people in Japan seem to take a lot of pride in being honorable. Therefore, scams are pretty few and few between in general.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#60

Post by wiggler00m » Thu, Jun 20, 2019, 2:49 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #57

franciscop wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Love paying with a suica for taxi and basically anything, I've stopped taking any taxi that does not accept it and I'm considering changing my laundry place just because of this.

American here. What makes "suica" a superior contactless payment method? EDIT: Thanks for the replies! Seems it's a more full featured version of Chicago's Ventra card.

No Fees: Suica does not charge users merchant fees. Contrast that with a credit card, which charge fees as a % of transactions. Some credit cards with contactless functionality (eg. PayWave) charge a higher % if you use the contactless method rather than inserting or swiping. If you like money, well, you get more of it by using Suica. You do have to pay a 500 JPY deposit (refundable) when you first obtain the card. You can get this back at any JR station whenever you want. Also if you're using a foreign card, you might be charged foreign exchange fees and also get a bad exchange rate (ie. the rate is almost always some % worse in favor of the bank). If you can find a more efficient way of getting JPY onto a Suica, then you can save money.

Privacy: If you care about privacy, Suica is relatively anonymous, unless you (optionally) register it. It's probably possible to link a card to someone retrospectively with CCTV, but your transaction history is not being broadcast in real-time to your bank.

Acceptance: It's also increasingly widely accepted: public transport (the Tokyo metro system is amazing and gets you just about anywhere efficiently); taxis; the pervasive convenience stores + some supermarkets; more and more retail stores. Edit: as another poster pointed out, a huge % of transactions in Japan are made in cash and it's quite common for stores to not accept credit cards, yet some of these do accept Suica.

Discounts: You might get discounts on train fares if you use Suica, too.

No battery required: The SUICA works 24/7, 365, with no need to charge it. Unless I'm mistaken, smartphones require at least reserve battery for NFC payments to work.