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How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

fortune.com

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Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#61

Post by 1oooqooq »

drdec wrote: post #38
jeffbee wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am having trouble imagining this scenario in a way that makes Waymo look as bad as you imply. It sounds like the human-driven vehicle if it was "boxed in" on an on-ramp needed to slow and merge, rather than racing to pass on the right, running off the road, and causing a spectacular single-vehicle wreck. The way it's described in that paragraph seems to be ironclad proof of the need to promptly relieve humans of dr…

I don't understand the downvotes of the parent post. I am unfamiliar with the details of this incident and my reading based on the facts presented is similar. Could someone provide more information?

threads on hn brings people from the mentioned company. all root comments saying bad things will always get downvotes.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#63

Post by 1oooqooq »

not-my-account wrote: post #14
dexwiz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdata, but watching the Waymo cars compared to Cruise (preban) was night and day. Before Cruise was banned in SF, I would often see them violate traffic laws and fail to navigate basic intersections. Waymo isn't perfect, but its better than Cruise and the average SF driver, which is good enough for me.

Anecdata 2, I bike through SF almost daily, and much prefer a Waymo driving near me as opposed to your average SF driver.

that's cool. until it's not. it's very easy to release an upgrade of stopping less on stop signs and see data increasing profit and not increasing accidents. same with code updates that will make cyclist life worse, unless there's actual change in a kpi they track. you're not really their main concern, specially after they ipo and get acquired by Apollo or billionaire du jour

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#64

Post by ianstormtaylor »

echoangle wrote: post #58
ianstormtaylor wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question out of curiosity, since you seem genuine and open to discussion… I agree with all of your points about Waymo vs. Uber-like ridesharing—the average Uber ride is so much less safe that it’s hard to argue for. But I also agree with your aside about the growing isolation of society—the longer term implications of every event, meal, and errand being separated by autonomous journeys are staggering. So the q…

How is that different than if you were driving yourself?

Well, I’d say it’s different in a similar way that Uber’s are different from driving yourself. For physical trips it’s similar, but lower barrier to entry, so you do it more. And for deliveries it’s a much lower barrier because you don’t drive at all.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#65

Post by ianstormtaylor »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #59
ianstormtaylor wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question out of curiosity, since you seem genuine and open to discussion… I agree with all of your points about Waymo vs. Uber-like ridesharing—the average Uber ride is so much less safe that it’s hard to argue for. But I also agree with your aside about the growing isolation of society—the longer term implications of every event, meal, and errand being separated by autonomous journeys are staggering. So the q…

Uber sometimes offers a service called UberPool where you share the car with another passenger in order to save money right? Couldn't Waymo do the same?

They could in theory yeah. I’m not sure if Uber still offers it, but I think its uptake is so low (anecdotally from people I know) that it’s effectively not a solution to societal isolation, because it doesn’t end up being used.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#67

Post by bagels »

ok_dad wrote: post #25
xvedejas wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 1% worst human drivers are really quite unpredictable. You're never certain with any human driver whether they're going to drive like a maniac, but you do know you're not getting that with a Waymo.

With a human I can look at their face to see that they see me. How do I know a robot sees me? Do they have indications that say “I see you and won’t drive” like a driver looking at you in the face and waving?

Drivers can stare right at you as they run you over. Believing you have eye contact does not prevent you from being run over.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#68

Post by threeseed »

1oooqooq wrote: post #63
not-my-account wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdata 2, I bike through SF almost daily, and much prefer a Waymo driving near me as opposed to your average SF driver.

that's cool. until it's not. it's very easy to release an upgrade of stopping less on stop signs and see data increasing profit and not increasing accidents. same with code updates that will make cyclist life worse, unless there's actual change in a kpi they track. you're not really their main concern, specially after they ipo and get acquired by Apollo or billionaire du jour

Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet.

And not sure why you think running stop signs or any anti safety measures would increase profits.

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#69

Post by _carbyau_ »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #59
ianstormtaylor wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question out of curiosity, since you seem genuine and open to discussion… I agree with all of your points about Waymo vs. Uber-like ridesharing—the average Uber ride is so much less safe that it’s hard to argue for. But I also agree with your aside about the growing isolation of society—the longer term implications of every event, meal, and errand being separated by autonomous journeys are staggering. So the q…

Uber sometimes offers a service called UberPool where you share the car with another passenger in order to save money right? Couldn't Waymo do the same?

Didn't Uber start branded as a "ride sharing" app where the app helped you find someone to car pool into work with?

I suspect an underlying issue with socialising is faith in humanity. It's hard to have faith in humanity in the modern world when every front appears to be telling you otherwise. If you don't have faith in humanity, then you're limited to only interacting with those: "you have to" and "are vetted".

Re: How Waymo outlasted the competition and made robo-taxis a real business

#70

Post by upbeat_general »

ianstormtaylor wrote: post #65
0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber sometimes offers a service called UberPool where you share the car with another passenger in order to save money right? Couldn't Waymo do the same?

They could in theory yeah. I’m not sure if Uber still offers it, but I think its uptake is so low (anecdotally from people I know) that it’s effectively not a solution to societal isolation, because it doesn’t end up being used.

I thought it was pretty well used pre-covid, especially when the rides were sometimes 50% of a regular ride.

At least I personally used it a lot, and knew several people that did.

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