This isn't Google creating am uber rival, it is quelling competition for the rideshare services that exist for co-commuting.
Google launches Uber rival RideWith
181–190 of 203 posts
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#182Carpooling has fundamental challenges that are perhaps impossible to overcome. For one, dynamic routing for two or more people is always going to hurt the user experience. Imagine you're running late and your car re-routes to pick up another passenger - ugh! Shared transportation for anything more than a neighbourhood trip should be professionally driven and to a schedule. That schedule can be dynamic as anything but…
On the other hand, for commutes from, say, SF to Mountain View, or Mesa to Scottsdale, I bet a lot of drivers would love to have an extra passenger so they could use the HOV lane. During rush hour, the difference between being able to use the HOV lane vs. not could easily be 30 minutes.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#183It heard that the branding team ruled out using "Google Hitchhiker". What's the difference? Google's/Uber's/Lyft's imprimatur that your passenger is trustworthy? More surety of payment? If I want to take the risk, why won't cities let me give hitchhiker's rides for cash (or even credit card payments)?
In the US, especially among people of politically-influential age, hitchhiking has a fairly negative connotation. In most US states, hitchhiking is at least restricted, and sometimes entirely illegal. There was a long period in the 80's where hitchhikers were portrayed as criminal, untrustworthy and those who would pick them up were likely to want to hurt them.
Carpooling, on the other hand, is highly encouraged, even to the point where local governments create special infrastructure to encourage people to do it. Are hitchhiking and carpooling two sides of the same coin? Yeah, probably. Should we be more encouraging of hitchhikers? Again, I think so. But if you have a positive message "Look at all the cars we're taking off the road! We're helping people meet others in similar situations, who all want to commute together!" it sets you up for a very different interaction with the public and with governments than "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we could get people to hitchhike more?"
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#184Is it me or is Google doing the Microsoft "Me too!" with all these things they're trying and then closing down a few months later?
Unlike Microsoft, who had the will and executive ability to expand to new territories and destroy competitors, Google has a remarkable record of half-baked works and giving up. it's a joke.
"had the will and executive ability to expand to new territories and destroy competitors"
That didn't happen in mobile. In fact iOS and Android made Microsoft's mobile efforts look silly.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google knows where every Android user and most of everyone else lives and works. Frankly it would be trivial to ask Android users a question: "Are you interested in carpooling? [Y/N]" and then prompt them when the guy three doors down also answers yes.
We both know they'd be (rightly) yelled at by all of us if they did that. Waze, fine. By using the app, you agree they might monetize it, or whatever. But pushing ads to stock android is a huge no-no.
The feature they're describing sounds like a good fit for Google Now. I don't know what "stock" is well enough to know whether Now counts, but Now definitely has tight integration with other Google services already; if RideWith appeared in there, it probably wouldn't raise many eyebrows.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, ride sharing with self driving cars is going to be pretty normal in the near future. What will be cool is once they are self driving, they will be able to auto calculate quickest routes to pick people up, drop off, etc while being able to re-calculate to pick up people along the way.
Vast segments of the population (that is to say: probably 90%+ of women and 40%+ of men) are going to be deeply uncomfortable with getting into an automobile in the company of exactly one totally random stranger. Even if there are cameras.
I think it's realistic to have single seat cars.
Also people use public transport without too much hesitation.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vast segments of the population (that is to say: probably 90%+ of women and 40%+ of men) are going to be deeply uncomfortable with getting into an automobile in the company of exactly one totally random stranger. Even if there are cameras.
I think it's realistic to have single seat cars. Also people use public transport without too much hesitation.
It may be realistic to have single seat cars. But that's not ride sharing.
Public transit has (typically) more than one stranger. Indeed, crowds. That is, somewhat ironically, less threatening than being trapped in close quarters with a single stranger.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
>i suspect in general ,that self-driving cars and especially taxis would push the car market to derive much less value from branding and marketing and much more value from hardcore technology with design being much less a differentiator than today Why?
A lot of people have hypothesized that autonomous vehicles will drastically change the economics such that daily car sharing/rental will be cheaper than car ownership, and similarly convenient. This might in turn lead to a decline in car culture and personal car ownership. With a larger percentage of vehicles being owned by companies (or at least by individuals who are often loaning out their vehicle to the network),…
I see where you are coming from, but I wonder if Apple will play it's "luxury brand" card and cater not so much to the masses but to the wealthy. Privately owned self driving cars will definitely be preferred among those with wealth in the future. Sort of like owning the latest iPhone, it will be a status symbol that will also attract those for whom the cost is illogical beyond status.
Also China.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#189> Drivers will only be able to make two trips per day, and the software will ensure they only travel from their home neighborhoods to their workplaces. > There also won’t be a ton of money changing hands as a passenger will pay the driver only a nominal fare for the trip I'd hardly call it a Uber rival
UBER plans to attack the "drive to work" segment of the transportation market, and it's potentially a huge opportunity for UBER.This Google service, if successful, might fill that role very well. And the fact that it's cheaper is basically "disruption from below" - a proven strategy in many businesses. While this exact transport service model generally failed , it did succeed in France(blabla car), and Google has uni…
> And the fact that it's cheaper is basically "disruption from below" - a proven strategy in many businesses.
I believe the business model you are referencing is generally known as "race to the bottom"[1]. FWIW, it typically is only a "proven strategy" for the business which can starve out everyone else.
Re: Google launches Uber rival RideWith
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is Google's first toe-in-the-water for apps to request a ride, but it obviously won't be their last. What makes you think it won't be their last? Google frequently puts their toes in the water and then decides it's too cold to swim. It's like, their modus operandi.
I think it's pretty clear that this won't be their last effort in this area. In this case, you can take the very-close-proximity efforts by them - self driving cars - that they are taking very seriously, and extend that expectation here. Does it really make sense that Google would build self-driving cars without also thinking about ride sharing technology and userbase? I think the primary use case of Google's cars wi…
> I think it's pretty clear that this won't be their last effort in this area.
> There's a perfect fit between self-driving technology and ride sharing
In Google's case, that would be continuous advertisement inundation to the product(s)[1] as well as even more data collection on the product[1].
1 - product: previously known as "a user[2]".
2 - user: archaic form of the term "person".