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Uber Opens Its API

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Re: Uber Opens Its API

#71

Post by tedks »

myusernameranou wrote: post #70
tedks wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber is a dirty company. Well then. I hope you don't wear t-shirts made by slave kids in Honduran sweatshops, eat food fertilized by Monsanto, or buy anything that gives money to the Koch brothers. I hope you never drink Coke, since they kill unionizers in Colombia and Guatemala. While you're at it, I hope you never use Eclipse, since IBM supplied the Nazis. Every company is dirty. Every single one. Even your YC-star…

That's defeatist and dismissive. On a marginal level we should be exposing immoral decisions made by companies so that they at least try to give the perception of being moral, which a lot of the time means having to make a moral decision. On our spare time we should be agitating and propagandising and what not, but just because the most efficient and affordable companies are usually the most exploitative, it doesn't…

I've spent a large part of my life doing various pro-union anti-corporate-misbehavior etc activism and have come to the conclusion there is literally nothing us plebs can do at this point. The MEND/AQI style asymmetric warfare is literally the only option left, and that only works on the periphery, not the core. Consumer and traditional activism is entirely toothless because the economy has shrunk to the point where concessions can no longer be made. The labor-capital relationship of the 50's and 60's is dead now.

Uber is certainly not the least moral company and being upset about them prank-calling Lyft is just laughable. When was the last time you drank Coke or wore a Gildan t-shirt? Hell, look at the tags on the clothes you're wearing right now and try to come up with the moral authority to chide Uber.

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#72

Post by ejain »

Being able to access the history is nice; could be useful when combined with data from other sources...

The API appears to be well thought out--except for the epoch timestamps without time zone offsets :-(

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#74

Post by iancarroll »

smackfu wrote: post #68
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprised; I thought Uber was some sort of public-access ridesharing thing. If they vet drivers and license them, how is it different from any other cab service?

Mainly because they don't actually license them unless the local authorities force them to. They do vet them, in theory. And to follow-on, the practical difference is that they are a lot less terrible than most existing cab / car services.

People have been selling/giving away their Uber accounts too, IIRC.

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#75

Post by smackfu »

Aqua_Geek wrote: post #57
smackfu wrote: post #3

My preference is for apps to just have a directions link, and then the various providers can plug into the central OS maps. The odd thing is that Uber isn't integrated into the iOS Maps app as a transit provider. So you can't actually use it in that fashion.

It actually is integrated, but it might not support your area (the configuration file used to tell the system where it's supported might be out of date).

Ah, good point. We are in a bit of a grey area at our current location. We don't really have UberX in this town (Middletown, CT), but we live near to the interstate that a lot of UberX drivers are on going to and from a metro they do support (New Haven, CT). So the app will call us a car, but it's always 15-20 mins for pickup time.

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#76

Post by potatolicious »

diminoten wrote: post #29
potatolicious wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a third choice: neither. You're in Toronto for crying out loud - despite the kvetching of its residents the TTC is one of the best transit systems on the continent. Uber is shady as fuck, so is the cab industry. Pointing out the degrees to which they are shady is not particularly useful and serves only to rationalize supporting unethical actors.

What's shady about an Uber ride? I've taken dozens and not a single one gave me any problems whatsoever. No one's going to care how the front office of Uber acts if the product they offer is solid.

There's nothing wrong with roundup-ready corn either (well, any more than what's wrong with regular corn), but I still take issue with Monsanto.

Microsoft still made immensely popular and good products, even while they were stomping all over the tech industry in the 90s.

I agree that a good product coming out of a company with abusive practices behind-the-scenes is unlikely to be boycotted widely, but the company is still shady.

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#77

Post by toomuchtodo »

mcclavius wrote: post #12
chaghalibaghali wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, looks like I'll be sticking with my current approach for now then.

Mike here, from the Uber API team. The Request A Ride endpoint is currently only available on a whitelist basis. We'd love to hear your ideas on the integration if you'd like to share them with us!

Hey Mike! I had an idea for using the Uber Request A Ride endpoint for an app/site to allow bars/clubs to use Uber for getting impaired drivers home (ordering a ride for them). Would this be grounds for whitelisting?

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#78

Post by lnanek2 »

Too bad it is read-only. :( TechCrunch Disrupt is coming up next month and I would have loved writing an Uber client for Google Glass. Having the user login on a desktop or mobile and then using their oauth credentials on a companion Glass app is all doable. They simply don't have any API for requesting a ride, however, once you have the credentials: https://developer.uber.com/v1/endpoints/

They have some deep linking APIs to start their apps on Android, iOS, or a mobile web site - but none of those will work on Glass. I suppose, theoretically, I can make the HTTP requests to their mobile site as if I were a browser and a user tapping the right buttons, but that it is a lot more brittle than having an API. It will break any time they change their web site.

Being able to say, "OK, Glass,""Get me a ride" and the car shows up would be exciting. "OK, Glass" "Show me the cost and time estimate to go to the Design Center" is just a boring advertisement. Right now their API just allows boring advertisements, pretty much.

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#79

Post by brk »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #58
clarkm wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reduces drunk driving.

...taxis already do that.

Not really. I use Uber pretty regularly when traveling for a ride home from a night out. It's consistent, reliable, and I don't have to worry about the driver trying to take advantage of the fact that I might be unfamiliar with the area and possibly not in my most aware state :)

If it's cold, dark, whatever outside I can call an Uber via the app and know when they're arriving. I can see how long the expected delay is to plan wrapping things up accordingly.

My experience with Taxi's in most of the major US markets is that coverage is spotty, fares can be variable, credit-card acceptance is hit or miss, and the cars and drivers are generally sub-par.

Comparing taxi's to Uber is like comparing a model rocket to the Space X program.

Re: Uber Opens Its API

#80

Post by dozy »

lnanek2 wrote: post #78

Too bad it is read-only. :( TechCrunch Disrupt is coming up next month and I would have loved writing an Uber client for Google Glass. Having the user login on a desktop or mobile and then using their oauth credentials on a companion Glass app is all doable. They simply don't have any API for requesting a ride, however, once you have the credentials: https://developer.uber.com/v1/endpoints/ They have some deep linkin…

Agreed it's a shame this is read only - I'd like to build this for Android Wear, among other things.

You could build a companion app, send the HTTP request you mention, which would trigger a push notification to that user's companion app/device, which could then trigger a deep link to the Uber app :)

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