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Kalanick was absolutely right to be panicking about self driving cars. The reason we pay a little more for taxis and ubers is that we have to pay for the perso

by vivekd 9y ago

Kalanick was absolutely right to be panicking about self driving cars. The reason we pay a little more for taxis and ubers is that we have to pay for the person driving the cars. With a self driving taxi service, and no need to pay for a driver, the cost of hiring a ride would become much cheaper disrupting uber's business. * This post was Edited in reply to comment with an edit deleting criticism about intellectual property

factsplease 9y ago
Could you please keep your statements truthful. There is no proof that Kalanick or Uber stole anything from Waymo. There is an ongoing and unresolved court case to determine that. It's only appropriate to make such a statement, if it's proven that Uber stole anything. This is HN not reddit. Thus far, all we know is that Levandowsky alledgedly took files as leverage to make sure Google paid him the bonuses Google was late on, but he was expressively forbidden by Kalanick from bringing any of those files to Uber. All the discovery performed so far has turned up zero evidence that any files from Waymo ended up at Uber. It's not uncommon for legacy companies to sue newer, more nimble and more promising companies over IP issues when they lose star performers. It also happened to Google when Paypal sued them for trade secret theft when promising senior talent left Paypal to join Google Wallet: https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/26/paypal-lawsuit-google/ https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/26/paypal-lawsuit-google/ It's perfectly okay to recruit promising talent from other companies with better offers so long as the recruiting company keeps everything kosher via due diligence that ensures the talent does not bring intellectual property from the previous employer to the new company. All evidence made public thus far suggests the Uber did its due diligence here and made sure nothing belonging to Waymo made its way to Uber.
- vivekd 9y ago
  That's a fair point, I edited my comment to get rid of the part about intellectual property violations in response to your comment.
- ultimateedition 9y ago
  Are you a bot? The comment you replied to made no mention of Waymo or stealing.
  - factsplease 9y ago
    No, not a bot. The original comment made allegations of IP theft by Kalanick. It has since been edited.
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago
      Are you an Uber employee?
      - malandrew 9y ago
        I've read the comment you're replying to a few times, and I'm curious why it matters if they are or not. For the purpose of contributing to this discussion, have they stated anything false or misrepresented anything? If so, you should present that as a retort instead, instead of questioning their identity. Furthermore, for authors of comments critical of Uber, do you also go out of your way to ask if they work for a competing company like Waymo, Google, Tesla or Lyft? Let's ask you that same question. Are you a Waymo, Google, Tesla or Lyft employee or shareholder?
        malandrew 9y ago
        Nevermind. I can answer that question for you. You're a Tesla shareholder. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13354703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13354703
        toomuchtodo 9y ago
        Because it's a fairly frequent occurrence to have brand new accounts on HN rush to Uber's defense. And it's pretty sad to see people rush to Uber's defense because they're a despicable company with a proven track record of breaking many laws, abusing their employees, abusing their drivers, and treating their customers like cattle. Looking through your comment history, it appears you're an Uber apologist, which is your right. I'm a Tesla investor, but I don't create straw man accounts to push a narrative.
- jtmcmc 9y ago
  sure sure Uber sock puppet...
- xsmasher 9y ago
  I thought the file theft by Levandowsky was first uncovered when a supplier was found to be working on an Uber circuitboard that was copied from a Waymo circuitboard. Not so?

by vivekd 9y ago

factsplease 9y ago

Could you please keep your statements truthful. There is no proof that Kalanick or Uber stole anything from Waymo. There is an ongoing and unresolved court case to determine that. It's only appropriate to make such a statement, if it's proven that Uber stole anything. This is HN not reddit. Thus far, all we know is that Levandowsky alledgedly took files as leverage to make sure Google paid him the bonuses Google was late on, but he was expressively forbidden by Kalanick from bringing any of those files to Uber. All the discovery performed so far has turned up zero evidence that any files from Waymo ended up at Uber. It's not uncommon for legacy companies to sue newer, more nimble and more promising companies over IP issues when they lose star performers. It also happened to Google when Paypal sued them for trade secret theft when promising senior talent left Paypal to join Google Wallet: https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/26/paypal-lawsuit-google/ https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/26/paypal-lawsuit-google/ It's perfectly okay to recruit promising talent from other companies with better offers so long as the recruiting company keeps everything kosher via due diligence that ensures the talent does not bring intellectual property from the previous employer to the new company. All evidence made public thus far suggests the Uber did its due diligence here and made sure nothing belonging to Waymo made its way to Uber.

vivekd 9y ago
That's a fair point, I edited my comment to get rid of the part about intellectual property violations in response to your comment.
ultimateedition 9y ago
Are you a bot? The comment you replied to made no mention of Waymo or stealing.
- factsplease 9y ago
  No, not a bot. The original comment made allegations of IP theft by Kalanick. It has since been edited.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Are you an Uber employee?
    - malandrew 9y ago
      I've read the comment you're replying to a few times, and I'm curious why it matters if they are or not. For the purpose of contributing to this discussion, have they stated anything false or misrepresented anything? If so, you should present that as a retort instead, instead of questioning their identity. Furthermore, for authors of comments critical of Uber, do you also go out of your way to ask if they work for a competing company like Waymo, Google, Tesla or Lyft? Let's ask you that same question. Are you a Waymo, Google, Tesla or Lyft employee or shareholder?
      - malandrew 9y ago
        Nevermind. I can answer that question for you. You're a Tesla shareholder. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13354703 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13354703
      - toomuchtodo 9y ago
        Because it's a fairly frequent occurrence to have brand new accounts on HN rush to Uber's defense. And it's pretty sad to see people rush to Uber's defense because they're a despicable company with a proven track record of breaking many laws, abusing their employees, abusing their drivers, and treating their customers like cattle. Looking through your comment history, it appears you're an Uber apologist, which is your right. I'm a Tesla investor, but I don't create straw man accounts to push a narrative.
jtmcmc 9y ago
sure sure Uber sock puppet...
xsmasher 9y ago
I thought the file theft by Levandowsky was first uncovered when a supplier was found to be working on an Uber circuitboard that was copied from a Waymo circuitboard. Not so?