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This feels like an entertaining distraction by someone who massively underestimates their need to provide support to both drivers and customers. Uber's GPS map

This feels like an entertaining distraction by someone who massively underestimates their need to provide support to both drivers and customers. Uber's GPS mapping soloution doesn't work as magically as it needs to. Things change pretty quickly there. I don't think this could succeed without traditional support infrastructure. Also, block chain updates over mobile? What is the data plan of those drivers going to look like?

aakilfernandes 11y ago
> What is the data plan of those drivers going to look like? Light nodes or just plain http. You don't need to download the entire blockchain.
zekevermillion 11y ago
Assuming that it is even necessary to use ethereum for a distributed uber -- I see no need for the driver to maintain a copy of the blockchain, and certainly not in the vehicle. Groups of drivers who trust each other IRL could, for example, cooperate to finance a single full node and then make calls to that service to verify payment. Presumably, drivers could also use third-party mapping software / services, dispatchers, whatever aspects of the biz are not handled by the decentralized protocol.
- mostly_harmless 11y ago
  so now drivers need to host their own cryptocurrency pool?
  - zekevermillion 11y ago
    What is a cryptocurrency pool? Are you thinking of a mining pool? No, there would be no need for that. Why would a taxi driver need to mine bitcoin? Let's ignore that taxi drivers could avoid using any cryptocurrency. It's possible to have the ride hailing and rating systems done without bitcoin. If we assume that bitcoin or a clone is the right network to use for the dispatch and ratings systems, then someone the taxi driver trusts has to run wallet software to verify that transactions are valid. It might be a good idea for them to have their own node for certain functions as well. Wallet and node software could be run very cheaply in the taxi driver's home, or even in a project shared between drivers. So the objection about mobile bandwidth is easily overcome.

aakilfernandes 11y ago

> What is the data plan of those drivers going to look like? Light nodes or just plain http. You don't need to download the entire blockchain.

zekevermillion 11y ago

Assuming that it is even necessary to use ethereum for a distributed uber -- I see no need for the driver to maintain a copy of the blockchain, and certainly not in the vehicle. Groups of drivers who trust each other IRL could, for example, cooperate to finance a single full node and then make calls to that service to verify payment. Presumably, drivers could also use third-party mapping software / services, dispatchers, whatever aspects of the biz are not handled by the decentralized protocol.

mostly_harmless 11y ago
so now drivers need to host their own cryptocurrency pool?
- zekevermillion 11y ago
  What is a cryptocurrency pool? Are you thinking of a mining pool? No, there would be no need for that. Why would a taxi driver need to mine bitcoin? Let's ignore that taxi drivers could avoid using any cryptocurrency. It's possible to have the ride hailing and rating systems done without bitcoin. If we assume that bitcoin or a clone is the right network to use for the dispatch and ratings systems, then someone the taxi driver trusts has to run wallet software to verify that transactions are valid. It might be a good idea for them to have their own node for certain functions as well. Wallet and node software could be run very cheaply in the taxi driver's home, or even in a project shared between drivers. So the objection about mobile bandwidth is easily overcome.