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Seems like part of uber's moat is the driver network -- having drivers available everywhere. But at least that part of the moat disappears when you no longer n

Seems like part of uber's moat is the driver network -- having drivers available everywhere. But at least that part of the moat disappears when you no longer need drivers.

Fricken 9y ago
Behind all the drama with the Waymo lawsuit and the tornado that was Anthony Levandowski blowing through, Uber's advanced technology group has been quietly and doggedly plugging away at the self driving problem. They announced today that they've logged their 1 millionth test mile, and completed over 30,000 passenger rides in Pittsburgh and Tempe. I have no idea how good their cars are compared to their competitors, but, with 200 test cars, their operation is supassed in scale only by Waymo. They're hard at work digging their moat. Clearly Lyft has some tricks up it's sleeve as well.
- nerfhammer 9y ago
  Right, that's a different moat and a new playing field though. It seems like it could be less of a network effect, possibly more of an economy of scale effect. Or maybe those two usually end up coinciding. Or maybe not, maybe they'll be some point where the software matures enough that people end up being sort of indifferent between who developed it as long as it passes some "good enough" threshold, and some of the set of developers with good enough software will license it to whoever wants it to undermine the dominant player. For example I'm not sure which of the Maps/directions apps out there right now is actually the best, but they all seem good enough to use and I can't actually tell which is superior except for rare edge cases that I won't see often enough to be able to quantify.
- paulie_a 9y ago
  That is interesting and odd as Uber in general has become significantly worse in directing drivers to pickup locations. In my experience over the last month, most drivers ignore the app and use common sense with a far higher degree of accuracy vs Uber's broken GPS
- dx034 9y ago
  While 1 million miles sounds impressive, it's probably not more than any of the big OEMs has done so far. Every car manufacturer is working on self driving cars, plus some others (Waymo, Uber, Continental). The difference is that manufacturers don't talk that openly about it. They are used to keep advances secret until you can buy it. I'm sure Daimler, VW, GM and Ford test with a similar fleet. If they come to market at the same time as others they'd need to find a manufacturer that doesn't already offer it. If they want to be first they need to beat manufacturers that have recognised the risk and can spend several billions a year without making a loss..
  - Fricken 9y ago
    You're not going to be able to provide any sources for your claims because there are none. You are bullshitting.

Seems like part of uber's moat is the driver network -- having drivers available everywhere. But at least that part of the moat disappears when you no longer need drivers.

Fricken 9y ago

Behind all the drama with the Waymo lawsuit and the tornado that was Anthony Levandowski blowing through, Uber's advanced technology group has been quietly and doggedly plugging away at the self driving problem. They announced today that they've logged their 1 millionth test mile, and completed over 30,000 passenger rides in Pittsburgh and Tempe. I have no idea how good their cars are compared to their competitors, but, with 200 test cars, their operation is supassed in scale only by Waymo. They're hard at work digging their moat. Clearly Lyft has some tricks up it's sleeve as well.

nerfhammer 9y ago
Right, that's a different moat and a new playing field though. It seems like it could be less of a network effect, possibly more of an economy of scale effect. Or maybe those two usually end up coinciding. Or maybe not, maybe they'll be some point where the software matures enough that people end up being sort of indifferent between who developed it as long as it passes some "good enough" threshold, and some of the set of developers with good enough software will license it to whoever wants it to undermine the dominant player. For example I'm not sure which of the Maps/directions apps out there right now is actually the best, but they all seem good enough to use and I can't actually tell which is superior except for rare edge cases that I won't see often enough to be able to quantify.
paulie_a 9y ago
That is interesting and odd as Uber in general has become significantly worse in directing drivers to pickup locations. In my experience over the last month, most drivers ignore the app and use common sense with a far higher degree of accuracy vs Uber's broken GPS
dx034 9y ago
While 1 million miles sounds impressive, it's probably not more than any of the big OEMs has done so far. Every car manufacturer is working on self driving cars, plus some others (Waymo, Uber, Continental). The difference is that manufacturers don't talk that openly about it. They are used to keep advances secret until you can buy it. I'm sure Daimler, VW, GM and Ford test with a similar fleet. If they come to market at the same time as others they'd need to find a manufacturer that doesn't already offer it. If they want to be first they need to beat manufacturers that have recognised the risk and can spend several billions a year without making a loss..
- Fricken 9y ago
  You're not going to be able to provide any sources for your claims because there are none. You are bullshitting.