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Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

nytimes.com

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Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#311

Post by ipqk »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #283
mi100hael wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber definitely competes on price. Their fares are almost always the lowest of any competitor, especially compared to traditional cabs. That's essentially their only strategy other than allowing mobile hailing & payment (which is not particularly hard to replicate). The reason Uber is blowing through so much venture capital is because they are bleeding cash in all directions on fare subsidies.

Are you willing to let Uber spy permanently on you in order to save a few bucks? http://www.wired.co.uk/article/uber-track-location-data-upda...

And it's not permanently. It's for a few minutes after drop off.

Assuming you trust them.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#312

Post by burkaman »

Kiro wrote: post #270
CPLX wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally. Usage #2: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

That makes no sense. It's like saying that "yes" means "yes", but it could also mean "no".

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cleave

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/sanction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym#Examples

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#313

Post by lloydde »

sova wrote: post #307
fixermark wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is: in the long run, yes; in the short run, Waymo is manufacturing its own chipsets that it has a patent on. It's not using COTS kit for on-board processing, which gives it a significant technical advantage that will be hard for competitors to match.

Elon maintains that with just cameras you can achieve super-human (10x) performance with self-driving cars. Fact I nabbed when he spoke about Boring at TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/elon_musk_the_future_we_re_buildin...

Sure, but what is the reduction in accidents for just cameras vs all three? Super-human might only be reglatorial approved in the absence of technology being available with high safety.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#314

Post by amyjess »

fragmede wrote: post #282
neosat wrote: post #117

This could be a longer term death blow for Lyft, ironically. If Google has the self driving tech, the car & car partnerships, the money, maps, access to end consumers, what exactly does it need Lyft for? Lyft will be a vehicle for Google to kickstart and test this out with a current ride sharing network before Lyft is cut off ...

And when Facebook came out with Google Plus, we all switched away from Facebook, right? All the engineering genius in the world couldn't do enough for Google Plus (hint: it's not the engineering), why would they do any better with supplanting Lyft unless they copied Uber and lit money on fire by offering free rides for a year like they did with (domestic US) phone calls.

To extend your comparison, look at how much better buying YouTube was for Google than starting Google Video was.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#315

Post by mstade »

mi100hael wrote: post #274
mstade wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdata to support your point: in Stockholm the taxi companies have caught up in terms of convenience vis-à-vis apps, registering payment methods etc., to the point where I just use them rather than Uber. To me, Uber never competed on price, it was the convenience, and the competition has caught up to the point where Uber now seems clunky almost.

Uber definitely competes on price. Their fares are almost always the lowest of any competitor, especially compared to traditional cabs. That's essentially their only strategy other than allowing mobile hailing & payment (which is not particularly hard to replicate). The reason Uber is blowing through so much venture capital is because they are bleeding cash in all directions on fare subsidies.

Sure, in general, but this is why I wrote "to me" as in I don't care about he price difference. (Which, btw, in Stockholm is not very significant.) My account was simply meant as an anecdote to support the parent comment, that a local alternative can compete quite successfully. In my case, the convenience was key, not cost. That said, if they were consistently half the price of regular taxis I might reconsider. But only might because it's unclear to me who's responsible if things go missing during my trip, if there's an accident or the likes. With the traditional cab companies in Stockholm it's very clear who to turn to.

But I agree with you in the general case, certainly.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#316

Post by ipqk »

neosat wrote: post #117

This could be a longer term death blow for Lyft, ironically. If Google has the self driving tech, the car & car partnerships, the money, maps, access to end consumers, what exactly does it need Lyft for? Lyft will be a vehicle for Google to kickstart and test this out with a current ride sharing network before Lyft is cut off ...

But Waymo (and Apple) is no longer building cars, as they partnered with Fiat Chrysler. Turns out building cars is a pain in the ass.

If all you're building is the underlying technology, you NEED partnerships for an actual complete solution.

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#317

Post by [deleted] »

bigbugbag wrote: post #186
keeptrying wrote: post #77

Waymo will have the first self driving cars on the road. They are so ahead of everyone. I think everyone including regular car companies buy the tech from Waymo in the short term.

Ever heard of the DARPA Grand challenge ? The first edition way in 2004 and the project aim is to have one third of US ground military vehicles autonomous by 2015. It seems the US DoD has a quite a headstart on waymo.

[deleted]

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#318

Post by Anderkent »

nicwolff wrote: post #273
CPLX wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally. Usage #2: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

Merrian-Webster is garbage. https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=literally

Oxford supports MW [1]. And so does common usage.

[1]: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/literally

Re: Lyft and Waymo Reach Deal to Collaborate on Self-Driving Cars

#320

Post by secfirstmd »

keeptrying wrote: post #293
jboggan wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waymo is going to win because of (1) better sensors and (2) better onboard computing power. Other companies can potentially compete in the former domain but literally no one in the world can go toe-to-toe with Waymo and siblings in the latter department. The ML powering Level 4 driving decisions is not cheap in dollars or power consumption and Google is already way ahead of the curve when it comes to custom fabricati…

The hardware will become commodity. The software is where the action will be. Imagine what would happen with fighter jets if they only had 3 main sensors. Lidar, Radar and camera.

No doubt turning many car companies into the new Android phone developers.
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