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Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

sfchronicle.com

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Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#391

Post by dventimi »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #375
dventimi wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. I don't want to speak for other people. If I were an Uber driver I personally would like to make more money rather than less, and if that happened with tips I wouldn't grumble too much about it. Maybe that's just me.

I think you both are speaking over eachother. You say on individual terms tipping makes sense and it does make sense in a vacuum like that. The other commenter is speaking in macro terms though. Having tips means theres less pressure to actually raise wages. It also fractures labor. You will have people getting no tips who really want higher wages and then people who are tipped well and comfortable with the status qu…

Well, from my first comment I have been speaking on micro terms, since I've been speaking for myself, an individual. I'm not speaking on the macro level because as an individual I have little power to make restaurants, say, pay higher wages, or Uber pay higher rates, or lower wages or lower rates. As an individual, whether or not I tip isn't going to change that one iota.

Now, if you want to talk about organizing collectively beyond the individual level, to use political and market power to make structural changes that raise wages but curb tipping, well that's a different topic that's worth discussing. But, absent that, I'm going to keep tipping.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#392

Post by gnicholas »

marssaxman wrote: post #387
michaelt wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure I don't get any "social signal" from using fancy taxis. I think you've got to own the vehicle for that to happen. Much like buying a museum ticket to see a famous painting isn't comparable to owning the same painting.

If that were true, I don't know how you could explain the persistence of town car and limousine services.

Really? Aren't town cars nicer inside than regular cabs? Limousines tend more in the direction of conspicuous consumption, though I imagine they are also generally more comfortable/clean than less-expensive options. Limos are also not that expensive for some use cases: we once had to get 8 people from NYC to MD, and it turned out that renting a limo was cheaper than us all taking the train or renting a vehicle.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#393

Post by dventimi »

abecedarius wrote: post #373
dventimi wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. I don't want to speak for other people. If I were an Uber driver I personally would like to make more money rather than less, and if that happened with tips I wouldn't grumble too much about it. Maybe that's just me.

Huh. Do you also think U.S. employees would be better off if Social Security had been created with a 12.4% tax paid by the employer, instead of a 12.4% tax paid half by the employer and half by the employee?

Non sequitur

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#394

Post by abecedarius »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #375
dventimi wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well. I don't want to speak for other people. If I were an Uber driver I personally would like to make more money rather than less, and if that happened with tips I wouldn't grumble too much about it. Maybe that's just me.

I think you both are speaking over eachother. You say on individual terms tipping makes sense and it does make sense in a vacuum like that. The other commenter is speaking in macro terms though. Having tips means theres less pressure to actually raise wages. It also fractures labor. You will have people getting no tips who really want higher wages and then people who are tipped well and comfortable with the status qu…

Yeah, I was thinking of bringing up the restaurant experience too and how hard it is to begin to fix this there. I just try to keep my comments short.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#395

Post by abecedarius »

dventimi wrote: post #393
abecedarius wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. Do you also think U.S. employees would be better off if Social Security had been created with a 12.4% tax paid by the employer, instead of a 12.4% tax paid half by the employer and half by the employee?

Non sequitur

Sigh. OK, I tried.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#396

Post by marssaxman »

gnicholas wrote: post #392
marssaxman wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that were true, I don't know how you could explain the persistence of town car and limousine services.

Really? Aren't town cars nicer inside than regular cabs? Limousines tend more in the direction of conspicuous consumption, though I imagine they are also generally more comfortable/clean than less-expensive options. Limos are also not that expensive for some use cases: we once had to get 8 people from NYC to MD, and it turned out that renting a limo was cheaper than us all taking the train or renting a vehicle.

Likely that is a factor, but people communicate social status and identity in so many different ways, which often appear meaningless or even absurd to people outside their perceived peer group, that I think it would be a mistake to discount the idea. (I recall one person I used to know who certainly did have opinions about the kinds of cars she would and would not prefer to be seen arriving in, regardless of who was driving or who owned the vehicle.)

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#397

Post by _zoltan_ »

bluejekyll wrote: post #233
KennyBlanken wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is automated. Has been for many decades. Hit up ebay and search for "swyngomatic." There are ones that are spring-powered and more modern ones use a couple of d-cells (or a wall wart if you're enterprising.) That and a white noise machine (set it low, their ear canals are very straight so they're sensitive to noise, although babies get used to noise around them given time and sleep through it, which is more practi…

Something every new parent should learn (which some parts of car rides mimic), learn about the 4th trimester. Then learn the 5 S’s to mimic the womb: Swaddle - wrap the baby Side/stomache - position like the womb Shush - white noise Sway/swing - walking or bouncing Suck - a finger, a sucker, etc These were a life saver for my son. Most nights it was just swaddle + sway, on bad nights it took all 5. I think the reason…

I disagree about giving them anything to suck on for the night. IIRC there's even research that could lead to late speech or trouble with speech later on.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#398

Post by dventimi »

abecedarius wrote: post #395
dventimi wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non sequitur

Sigh. OK, I tried.

Did you? You asked a question about Social Security policy, in a thread that's arguably about individual tipping practices. Perhaps you regard the former as an illustrative thought experiment which helps reason about the latter via shared principles, but it's a shame you didn't elaborate on it because as it stands, I regard it as a non sequitur.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#399

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

verdverm wrote: post #330
YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't the HN guidelines have something about "assuming good faith"? I can't be arsed to check now because obviously the comment above is not in good faith. /s

It's assume the best possible interpretation and the other commenter has provided evidence to the contrary through multiple posts

The guidelines explicitly say "Assume good faith":

Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.

The guidelines don't say anything about being free to be a dick when the other person is being a jerk. They even say not to:

Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.

Re: Self-driving Waymos secure final clearance for expansion beyond S.F

#400

Post by konschubert »

sailingparrot wrote: post #194
nicksrose7224 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

super bad take. by this logic nobody should be excited about any technology whatsoever

Many technologies enable some new cool things and in the process automate some stuff. Here we are talking about paying extra pretty much solely to not have to deal with a human.

Waymos enable fewer families torn apart by car crashes.
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