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Everybody thinks Uber wants to make robotic cars so everybody will just use uber robotic cars. But, why won't people buy their own robotic cars and put them on

by seiji 11y ago

Everybody thinks Uber wants to make robotic cars so everybody will just use uber robotic cars. But, why won't people buy their own robotic cars and put them on day time "search" mode for fares that get directly paid back to the owner of the vehicle? Then the vehicle can still return home for evenings/weekends when real people need immediate on-demand driving without waiting to be picked up.

deelowe 11y ago
That's lyft's model, no? :-)
beambot 11y ago
You could do that... and Uber could be handle all the fulfillment in "search" mode. Heck, there is precedent with "normal" cars already [1]. [1] https://help.getaround.com/hc/en-us/articles/204371664-Guaranteed-earnings-and-30-day-free-trial https://help.getaround.com/hc/en-us/articles/204371664-Guara... Under this model, you're just providing capital investment in a depreciating asset in return for special privileges. You'd have to do a cost-benefit analysis to see how it would work out for you. Personally... I'd leave the capital investment in automobiles to others and just pay surge pricing in the few instances where I need immediate transportation.
cowsandmilk 11y ago
why don't people have their home computers automatically join cloud computing clusters during the day so they can be used and paid for computation while the people are at work?
- robotresearcher 11y ago
  Because the cost of moving the data to the computer is too high. Locality is king. My private car is parked, unused, near potential customers right now.
untog 11y ago
The same reason relatively few people AirBnB their homes. There will be an administration overhead of at least some kind - who cleans the car? What happens when someone throws up in it? And so on. I'd say, why will people buy their own robotic cars at all? At least in major cities anyway - you could buy a membership to a program (ala ZipCar, car2go, etc) and just have "a car" on tap. The downsides of ownership (maintenance, etc) will be gone.

by seiji 11y ago

deelowe 11y ago

That's lyft's model, no? :-)

beambot 11y ago

You could do that... and Uber could be handle all the fulfillment in "search" mode. Heck, there is precedent with "normal" cars already [1]. [1] https://help.getaround.com/hc/en-us/articles/204371664-Guaranteed-earnings-and-30-day-free-trial https://help.getaround.com/hc/en-us/articles/204371664-Guara... Under this model, you're just providing capital investment in a depreciating asset in return for special privileges. You'd have to do a cost-benefit analysis to see how it would work out for you. Personally... I'd leave the capital investment in automobiles to others and just pay surge pricing in the few instances where I need immediate transportation.

cowsandmilk 11y ago

why don't people have their home computers automatically join cloud computing clusters during the day so they can be used and paid for computation while the people are at work?

robotresearcher 11y ago
Because the cost of moving the data to the computer is too high. Locality is king. My private car is parked, unused, near potential customers right now.

untog 11y ago

The same reason relatively few people AirBnB their homes. There will be an administration overhead of at least some kind - who cleans the car? What happens when someone throws up in it? And so on. I'd say, why will people buy their own robotic cars at all? At least in major cities anyway - you could buy a membership to a program (ala ZipCar, car2go, etc) and just have "a car" on tap. The downsides of ownership (maintenance, etc) will be gone.