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Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

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Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#81

Post by teachrdan »

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.

As a longtime Japan traveler, I recommend picking up business cards (called "shop cards" in Japan) for basically anywhere you go, because:

0. Japanese business cards often have beautiful design.

1. They are a good way to remember the cool places you visit.

2. They often have a map on the back that show you how to walk there from the nearest train station(s).

3. They have the address on the front, which you can show your taxi driver--no verbal communication necessary! (besides the obligatory onegaishimasu)

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#82

Post by randyrand »

To people think public transit negates taxis - public transit in stops around 12am/1am until about 6am.

If you're trying to get home in those hours taxis are your only options. Many people that go out at night just sleep on the streets, its pretty crazy!

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#83

Post by wflann »

munmaek wrote: post #79
wiggler00m wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Y…

Suica was awesome in tokyo, but I wasn't able to use it in Osaka unfortunately. Other than that, I love it. I had the card originally but I switched to just using my phone.

How long ago was this? In the past couple of years, I believe the backend systems have been integrated so you can use Tokyo-specific cards in Osaka and vice versa

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#84

Post by cwkoss »

teachrdan wrote: post #81
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.

As a longtime Japan traveler, I recommend picking up business cards (called "shop cards" in Japan) for basically anywhere you go, because: 0. Japanese business cards often have beautiful design. 1. They are a good way to remember the cool places you visit. 2. They often have a map on the back that show you how to walk there from the nearest train station(s). 3. They have the address on the front, which you can show y…

What is the japanese word for "shop cards"? Mise Meishi?

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#85

Post by vinay427 »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #29
CPLX wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I think a big part of what makes them expensive is the massive distances you may have to travel in Tokyo. Distances you often don't realise how large they are when using the awesome public transportation offerings. Price per kilometer & wait time seems higher in Zurich, for example.

Zurich is literally the most expensive city for taxi rides according to the latest DB report, linked here: https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/Mapping_the_worl...

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#86

Post by Macha »

hi5eyes wrote: post #37
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…

>Uber service itself has a sort of a 'premium' feeling around therein lies their brand proposition >I come into contact with the brand much more often from the context of Uber Eats. ubers worth is their international recognition as a premium service

While I use Uber in the US, I can't say the standard UberX is any more premium than taxis in my home country (Ireland). It's just standard US taxi drivers have set the standards so low in the places I've been.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#88

Post by astrange »

magduf wrote: post #65
pmjordan wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ubers worth is their international recognition as a premium service Anecdotal perhaps, but that's not my impression among friends & family. (based in Central & Western Europe) Unless you consider "less likely to be totally ripped off" as "premium". Which I guess it is to some extent, but taxi drivers in many western countries have set the bar so extremely low in terms of service that competing services such as Uber…

>taxi drivers in many western countries have set the bar so extremely low in terms of service >In Japan meanwhile... you literally get the white glove treatment in any run-of-the mill taxi and screwing people over totally goes against the grain of the local culture This is the stuff that the anti-Uber crowd just didn't seem to understand. Taxis in America will routinely screw you over and drive you in circles, knowin…

> Japan just isn't like this: screwing customers over is just something they don't do there, and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores.

There are a few scam stores in Tokyo, there's one that sells paintings to tourists, another one with monks that go around pushing things into your hands, and supposedly some ripoff girls bars. But not many.

Oh, but you can't get food substitutes in any restaurants and they'll deal with allergies by kicking you out of the store.

> and having extremely high customer service with incredible levels of politeness is just the norm there, even in simple convenience stores.

https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/language-japanese-store...

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#89

Post by astrange »

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.

Sony cameras are pretty good…

Japanese companies tend to accept a lot of complexity and also love paranoid bureaucratic form UIs. There might be one page of fields, then a second page to show you them over again to check for typos, then a third page of disclaimers to shame you in case you still made a mistake… because they're not going to refund you.

Sony's pretty good about this actually, but buying anything on the Nintendo shop takes 5+ clicks even if you saved your credit card.

Re: Sony launches a taxi-hailing app in Tokyo

#90

Post by munmaek »

wflann wrote: post #83
munmaek wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Suica was awesome in tokyo, but I wasn't able to use it in Osaka unfortunately. Other than that, I love it. I had the card originally but I switched to just using my phone.

How long ago was this? In the past couple of years, I believe the backend systems have been integrated so you can use Tokyo-specific cards in Osaka and vice versa

This March. I wasn't able to use Suica for the Osaka busses.
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