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Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

futureengine.org

71–80 of 488 posts

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#71

It's strange that even though SF approved 2 scooter companies to operate that I feel like I rarely see anyone actually use vs what I saw when Bird/Lime were here.

Scoot removed a bunch of them due to theft. I believe they're trying to figure out a locking mechanism before ramping up again.

To be fair, after seeing homeless people playing around with them and even peeing on them, im not getting close to any of them.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#72

My guess is that Lime and Bird's latest investors don't actually believe in these insane valuations. Instead, they see these companies as a safe place to park their money due to the limited downside provided by liquid preference terms.

I discovered scooters recently and have rode them in three major cities during the past month. I have to say it is the most genius consumer tech product I've seen in a long time. I instantly felt a sense of "wow" after riding the first one (bird). The entire experience is so simple, so elegant (ui/ux), cheap, efficient, and most importantly FUN. I looked up bird and lime to discover they'd each received over 400M in…

I liked it so much, I bought my own for my commute. It kept me from buying a second car, and ultimately saving 25 miles of driving each day.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I discovered scooters recently and have rode them in three major cities during the past month. I have to say it is the most genius consumer tech product I've seen in a long time. I instantly felt a sense of "wow" after riding the first one (bird). The entire experience is so simple, so elegant (ui/ux), cheap, efficient, and most importantly FUN. I looked up bird and lime to discover they'd each received over 400M in…

I liked it so much, I bought my own for my commute. It kept me from buying a second car, and ultimately saving 25 miles of driving each day.

Why didn't you buy an electric bike? For 25 miles that would be way more comfortable.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#74
post #50

These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…

Helmets are important (I always wear one,) however, government ought not force people to wear them. Freedom still should matter. Grown adults should be able to make their own decisions. I support helmet laws for the under 18 crowd, but for grown adults? Too much nanny state for my liking.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#75
post #50

These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…

I think the big issue that most people have with them is the large externality of having scooters littered around the sidewalk. In a lot of places in West Los Angeles, you are having to step around them constantly if you walk down the street. People literally just drop them in the middle of the sidewalk, because there is no incentive for them to not do that. This means that everyone who doesn't use the service has to…

Maybe some parking areas for cars can be replaced in favor of scooters and bikes in certain places. Its interesting how we accept that cars are allowed to park nearly everywhere in cities. It's just normal - scooter and bikes will be a new normal also. But hopefully not in addition but instead of cars in some areas.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#77
post #50

These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…

I think the big issue that most people have with them is the large externality of having scooters littered around the sidewalk. In a lot of places in West Los Angeles, you are having to step around them constantly if you walk down the street. People literally just drop them in the middle of the sidewalk, because there is no incentive for them to not do that. This means that everyone who doesn't use the service has to…

Especially hurtful to people who have limited mobility and get around with a wheelchair, walker, crutches, or have trouble bending down to move them out of the way. On top of that I've seen them left in bushes, in the street taking up parking space, or blocking doors or gates.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#79

I loved using Lime, but I can see cities banning it like SF. You aren't supposed to ride the scooter on side walks and many people do it. People just leave it in random places and I know some cities don't like this.

Someone somehow managed to abandon one on the roof (7th floor) of my work building. Getting the damn thing down to the ground floor and out of the building was not a lot of fun. Moving it locked up the wheels and triggered the alarm. It even announced through a speaker that it was "calling the police." With some help I was able to get it down, moved into a service elevator, and escorted out of the building. The stupid thing would not shut up. Someone must have come by and collected it because it was gone by the end of the day.

Pain in the ass, and the company, in typical Silicon Valley fashion, didn't have any information on their website about how to contact a real person or to report an abandoned scooter. If this is going to be a regular thing, where I have to be an impromptu scooter wrangler, I want my cut :)

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#80
post #28

I cannot stand the Limes and Birds around Santa Monica. I walk out of my apartment, and the streets are littered with them. It's annoying when walking, it's even more annoying when jogging, and riders are constantly riding them (without helmets) on sidewalks even though we have bike lanes. They're even a nuisance when driving. I'm hoping for some legislation that will ban them -- I might set up a grassroots campaign…

I feel exactly the same... about cars. In all seriousness, they should have dedicated docking spots but even one parking spot per block would be more than enough and would solve the problem.

I am also in favor of dedicating some parking spots of cars to alternative transports, like scooters. Cars all over the place is just as "ugly" as scooters.
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