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Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

futureengine.org

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Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#311

Post by Latteland »

kough wrote: post #297
brookside wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not subscribe to the idea stealing=bad?

Is it ok to steal from the rich (nation-state and ultra-wealthy investors) to help the poor (me)? If I could steal a million dollars out of YC's checkbook I would do it in a heartbeat, wouldn't you?

No, stealing is wrong. No one is going to kill you, right? If you are going to die unless you do it, that might be different, at least arguable. Just cause you want to steal someone else's stuff and sell it for money - that's clearly wrong.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#312

Post by caro_douglos »

andrepd wrote: post #305
0xADEADBEE wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be in a bit of a minority but my main objection to these would be the installation of an app to use them - I am perhaps too privacy-conscious and admit I haven't attempted the signup process but even with a throwaway email address, I'm not comfortable installing it on a device I take with me when I leave the house; I even Uber via the web interface and would probably stop using the service if they hamstrung th…

I even Uber via the web interface Can you do this?? Thanks, I had no idea!

Not sure about uber.

Lyft has https://ride.lyft.com

Still have to verify your account through phone

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#313

Post by Uehreka »

guelo wrote: post #273
Uehreka wrote: post #27

I live in Baltimore and these things have been awesome. Over the summer and early fall, I used them a lot for trips that were between 3-15 blocks. They were usually less than half the price of a Lyft, were fun to drive, don't directly use fossil fuels and were usually available (in one app or the other) within a block or two of my house. I used them to meet friends for brunch, to pick up my car from getting worked on…

> don't directly use fossil fuels I feel like this is a bit of misleading marketing since a ton of fossil fuel is used to round them up and distribute them around town every day.

Fair, it’d be worth doing some math on this. Let’s assume a scooter Travels distance T on a full battery (across multiple trips of course) and has efficiency TE based on the efficiency of the (presumably fossil fuel) power plant and that the person picking it up for Charging drives distance C Picking Up PU scooters with a fossil fuel engine that has CE efficiency. Of course, we need to assume that TE and CE are measured in miles/kg-of-carbon-emission. So, the full equation would look something like:

(TPU/C)(TE/CE) = Carbon Efficiency of using Lime/Bird

I’ll admit that I don’t know all the numbers to plug in here (being HN, maybe someone else does) but given that even dirty power plants have better fuel efficiency than ICEs and that chargers don’t need to drive super far to find a ton of scooters my money is on this being better than driving, carbon-wise.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#315

Post by eddieplan9 »

andrepd wrote: post #305
0xADEADBEE wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be in a bit of a minority but my main objection to these would be the installation of an app to use them - I am perhaps too privacy-conscious and admit I haven't attempted the signup process but even with a throwaway email address, I'm not comfortable installing it on a device I take with me when I leave the house; I even Uber via the web interface and would probably stop using the service if they hamstrung th…

I even Uber via the web interface Can you do this?? Thanks, I had no idea!

https://m.uber.com

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#316

Post by cyphar »

andrepd wrote: post #305
0xADEADBEE wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be in a bit of a minority but my main objection to these would be the installation of an app to use them - I am perhaps too privacy-conscious and admit I haven't attempted the signup process but even with a throwaway email address, I'm not comfortable installing it on a device I take with me when I leave the house; I even Uber via the web interface and would probably stop using the service if they hamstrung th…

I even Uber via the web interface Can you do this?? Thanks, I had no idea!

Yes. https://m.uber.com/ For a really long time I chose to not have a smartphone so I would request an Uber using their web interface on my laptop.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#317

Post by beerlord »

Relys wrote: post #110
pfisch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"don't directly use fossil fuels" Looks like Maryland uses a significant amount of coal to power their grid, so is this even a good thing?

Yes, because in the long term electric vehicles consolidate fossil fuel emissions to a single large point (coal in this case) which can be eventually replaced with a clean energy source (i.e. solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, etc.).

Plus transporting about 80kg of human, scooter and baggage is much less weight than human, car and baggage.

It would be interesting to calculate the MPG of these, including the overnight recharging and repositioning done inside a van.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#319

Post by spookthesunset »

aantix wrote: post #284
0xADEADBEE wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be in a bit of a minority but my main objection to these would be the installation of an app to use them - I am perhaps too privacy-conscious and admit I haven't attempted the signup process but even with a throwaway email address, I'm not comfortable installing it on a device I take with me when I leave the house; I even Uber via the web interface and would probably stop using the service if they hamstrung th…

Isn't it exhausting to live like that? Will convenience ever win out for you? This is a serious question.

> Isn't it exhausting to live like that?

I always wonder why these kind of folks even bother to visit sites like this at all? Isn't this a tech focused site? Why are you here if you hate advancements in technology so much?

It reminds me of all the bitter old curmudgeons on Slashdot back in the day. Every post about advancements in HDD storage or more memory had at least a few highly voted comments droning on about the dangers of bloat and why all anybody really needs is green screens. Articles on higher resolution monitors, or fancier TV's would always have a couple predictable upvoted comments wondering "why do we need all this extra resolution?"

These kinds of comments really don't add anything to a discussion. They just bring a lot of negative energy. For some reason people always seem to upvote them--probably because they sound edgy or controversial. I just roll my eyes at the old grumps and move on with my life.

The big danger is the site gets taken over by these kinds of grumpy people. Then the site starts a slow decline into irrelevance as the world passes it and all the people still using it by....

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#320

Post by shaklee3 »

Uehreka wrote: post #27

I live in Baltimore and these things have been awesome. Over the summer and early fall, I used them a lot for trips that were between 3-15 blocks. They were usually less than half the price of a Lyft, were fun to drive, don't directly use fossil fuels and were usually available (in one app or the other) within a block or two of my house. I used them to meet friends for brunch, to pick up my car from getting worked on…

That doesn't seem comprable to lyft when you can't order one to show up wherever you want.
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