This is easily the most outrageous title ever to be on HN. Jesus, this is just so blatantly overreaching.
Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
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Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#22Is Phoenix because self driving cars can't handle any kind of inclement weather? Or is there some other reason to choose Phoenix over Denver or Milwaukee?
Phoenix has a TON of retired and disabled residents who can't or shouldn't drive (spread out over suburbs), so it was easy to get political support for comfortable transit options that improve their mobility (and don't cost the city anything).
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#23What is the actual advantage to consumers over an Uber? Novelty will wear off, and so to survive Waymo will actually need to be better in some way.
Can anyone in Phoenix answer if Waymo is cheaper?
Is Waymo hoping people will choose Waymo for safety?
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#24https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…
> We expect our new fully driverless service to be very popular, and we’re thankful to our riders for their patience as we ramp up availability to serve demand. I think this explains the reasoning behind the gradual ramp-up. Even at the product launch like new iPhones, the demand is difficult to estimate, so IMO it seems more responsible to give a reasonable expectation to the public like this, than just saying brave…
Nope. It's a poor press release because that is not what "general public" means.
You shouldn't have to analyze the takeaways of what Waymo really meant when they used the extremely common phrase "general public."
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#25https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…
Would it be too cynical to assume this whole thing is going to get shutdown after a few years due to failing to gain enough traction (due to people being wary of Google's track record of doing so with their in-google properties)?
Do you really care about the longevity of the taxi company whose cars you are riding in? Half the time, I don't even know which company that is. Or the longevity of the particular farm from which your grocery's tomatoes have been sourced from?
This isn't e-mail. The cost and hassle of switching to a competing service is nearly zero.
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#26https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…
Would it be too cynical to assume this whole thing is going to get shutdown after a few years due to failing to gain enough traction (due to people being wary of Google's track record of doing so with their in-google properties)?
Waymo was started in 2009, they have existed for half of Google's existence. The amount of research and money that has gone into it is not comparable to things like Google Reader.
Also, they seem to have the lead over most and the market opportunity is huge.
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#27https://blog.waymo.com/2020/10/waymo-is-opening-its-fully-dr... > We’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app So...this is just an extension of what they currently do where it's not really open to the public? Waymo One is something you have to apply for and almost nobody gets in. It's not clear to me what "w…
They state the date pretty clearly in the article. >Beginning today, October 8, we’re excited to open up our fully driverless offering to Waymo One riders. Members of the public service can now take friends and family along on their rides and share their experience with the world.
So Waymo One riders can now get a ride without a safety driver if they want to? Sounds like the OP has a point.
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#28I know the community is generally very negative/skeptic on this (at least based on the 21 comments so far below), but this is an amazing technical & business accomplishment. Congratulations!
The blog post is relatively clear that ramp up will take a few weeks - "we’ll start with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next several weeks, welcome more people directly into the service through our app"
before you comment watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBLkX2VaQs4
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#29Is Phoenix because self driving cars can't handle any kind of inclement weather? Or is there some other reason to choose Phoenix over Denver or Milwaukee?
Notoriously lax regulations.
https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/ducey-to-u...
Re: Waymo is opening its driverless service to more people in Phoenix
#30What is the actual advantage to consumers over an Uber? Novelty will wear off, and so to survive Waymo will actually need to be better in some way. Can anyone in Phoenix answer if Waymo is cheaper? Is Waymo hoping people will choose Waymo for safety?
I mean, if they can make this work well then you cut out the driver - which is very cost-saving.
It also lets you a. optimize exactly where cars are driving to maximize ride share revenue, b. have the cars ready to pick someone up 24/7.
It's going to be a much more efficient use of car capital than hiring a person to drive it.