there's a Ghanaian service that does something very similar
check it out here
Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
41–50 of 51 posts
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a valid concern but I think it's unlikely. No one's account has been locked for using this app. Rideshare companies take a large cut of the ride fare, so locking user accounts for using third-party apps is against their incentives. It's more likely that they would try to prevent this app from working, rather than targeting users of the app.
Not a ban, perhaps... but if I have two users - Alice who uses the app according to normal patterns, and Bob who consistently predicts and declines when my dynamic pricing algorithm tries to push above market pricing, and has a remarkably high look-to-book ratio - I'll want Alice to have better drivers, better service, faster pickups etc., because I'll have larger lifetime margins from choose-the-app-on-vibes-Alice t…
Race-to-the-bottom Bob belongs with the likes of Ben Bitdiddle and Louis Reasoner
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#43Misuse of the word “Hackney”. Hackney has a fairly specific meaning for traditional cabs in London whose human drivers require huge amounts of training in order to be licensed to pick up passengers - the antithesis of everything Uber etc stand for. Pretty sure you can’t use “Hackney Carriage LLC” as a company name either. A simple google reveals: “A hackney carriage is the formal legal term for a public vehicle for h…
The term has a long, disputed history though, and exported English can morph and grow according to local usage. I was going to post what you posted, but more than a simple Google search led me elsewhere!
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
App Review didn't object to that. There are various apps on the App Store today that rely on reverse engineering, such as unified messaging apps, alternative rideshare price comparison apps, and driver-side rideshare aggregators.
I believe this is Google's rule that applies. Though, I think Beeper would be breaking it as well. Maybe I'm reading it wrong? > Examples of common Device and Network Abuse violations: > Apps that access or use a service or API in a manner that violates its terms of service.
I guess they don't really enforce it. Zenmoney reverse-engineered APIs of banking apps and their app is still on both app store and google play
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#45Misuse of the word “Hackney”. Hackney has a fairly specific meaning for traditional cabs in London whose human drivers require huge amounts of training in order to be licensed to pick up passengers - the antithesis of everything Uber etc stand for. Pretty sure you can’t use “Hackney Carriage LLC” as a company name either. A simple google reveals: “A hackney carriage is the formal legal term for a public vehicle for h…
The term has a long, disputed history though, and exported English can morph and grow according to local usage. I was going to post what you posted, but more than a simple Google search led me elsewhere!
Regardless of specifics or otherwise, the app name is territorialising a domain and naming convention it shouldn’t be, and seeing as the app is available on the UK App Store then it’s certainly a case of “passing off” - a “hackney carriage” certainly is “in the UK, the name hackney carriage today refers to a taxicab licensed by Transport for London, local authority (non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authorities) or the Department of the Environment depending on region of the country“ (Wikipedia).
This app has nothing to do with that licensing of taxi cabs or their history, or comply with the legal foundations of that naming convention. Just because there’s a long history and some dispute, adding to the confusion isn’t going to help, and will be grounds for a huge amount of legal problems if this app gets off the ground, and so is better nipped in the bud sooner rather than later.
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not a ban, perhaps... but if I have two users - Alice who uses the app according to normal patterns, and Bob who consistently predicts and declines when my dynamic pricing algorithm tries to push above market pricing, and has a remarkably high look-to-book ratio - I'll want Alice to have better drivers, better service, faster pickups etc., because I'll have larger lifetime margins from choose-the-app-on-vibes-Alice t…
An alternative possibility is that a rideshare company sees that Alice always takes the price that's offered so Alice receives the standard price, whereas Bob is price-sensitive so he receives personalized discounts on rides until the prices reach the amount that he's willing to pay.
This is what most airlines and hotels do, the best prices go on google flights and google hotels and the worst prices are in their own apps.
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe this is Google's rule that applies. Though, I think Beeper would be breaking it as well. Maybe I'm reading it wrong? > Examples of common Device and Network Abuse violations: > Apps that access or use a service or API in a manner that violates its terms of service.
I guess they don't really enforce it. Zenmoney reverse-engineered APIs of banking apps and their app is still on both app store and google play
IANAL but I also wonder if app A can violate app B's terms of service, if they never agreed to the TOS in the first place.
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#48Misuse of the word “Hackney”. Hackney has a fairly specific meaning for traditional cabs in London whose human drivers require huge amounts of training in order to be licensed to pick up passengers - the antithesis of everything Uber etc stand for. Pretty sure you can’t use “Hackney Carriage LLC” as a company name either. A simple google reveals: “A hackney carriage is the formal legal term for a public vehicle for h…
The logo is also strikingly similar to that of the borough of Hackney [0], bar for the mark. If it wasn't for the San Francisco screenshot, my first impression would have been it's a Hackney council thing.
0: https://www.hackneydesignstudio.com/brand-guidelines/logo
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
The term has a long, disputed history though, and exported English can morph and grow according to local usage. I was going to post what you posted, but more than a simple Google search led me elsewhere!
Regardless of specifics or otherwise, the app name is territorialising a domain and naming convention it shouldn’t be, and seeing as the app is available on the UK App Store then it’s certainly a case of “passing off” - a “hackney carriage” certainly is “in the UK, the name hackney carriage today refers to a taxicab licensed by Transport for London, local authority (non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authori…
It's only a problem if he decides to do business in UK... Yanks are free to use it over in yanktonia
Re: Show HN: Hackney – Compare Uber, Lyft, Waymo, and Robotaxi Prices
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Regardless of specifics or otherwise, the app name is territorialising a domain and naming convention it shouldn’t be, and seeing as the app is available on the UK App Store then it’s certainly a case of “passing off” - a “hackney carriage” certainly is “in the UK, the name hackney carriage today refers to a taxicab licensed by Transport for London, local authority (non-metropolitan district councils, unitary authori…
It's only a problem if he decides to do business in UK... Yanks are free to use it over in yanktonia
They sure are. Just seems prudent to me to use a name like CompareFare or TaxiMaxi that isn’t likely to trigger the legal weight of the entire UK licensed transport industry if you ever want to expand. The app is on the UK App Store which is likely in breach of all kinds of rules and regulations and legal frameworks concerning licensed transportation right now - it’s not like it’s a cooking app or selling wilderness camping experiences… it’s a taxi app using a very specific usage for taxis in the UK which Uber etc are strictly prohibited from using.