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> It’s because the app is without peer. Eh. Lyft provides essentially the same feature set. Here in NYC we also have Juno and Gett. The point is not that Uber

by untog 9y ago

> It’s because the app is without peer. Eh. Lyft provides essentially the same feature set. Here in NYC we also have Juno and Gett. The point is not that Uber is bad, but that it's utterly replaceable. The one plus they do have is their presence in so many cities around the world, and while that is a benefit, I'm not convinced it's enough - I don't think that many people travel that often that it can keep the company competitive.

wuliwong 9y ago
I think there are a lot of places around the world that have Uber but don't have Lyft. Uber has competition in some areas but it seems like there's a lot of places where it doesn't have much.
- untog 9y ago
  Sure, but wide coverage doesn't come for free. Uber has to set up regional offices, advertise to local drivers, etc. etc. in each city in which it operates. It's not difficult to make the business case that you should actually just focus on a small number of huge cities instead - your chance for profit is much higher.
  - wuliwong 9y ago
    I cannot really comment on the difficulty of making the business case for only huge cities. But I am not convinced that marketing to non-Huge cities isn't profitable.
- kingnothing 9y ago
  Lyft is only in the US, so yes, most of the world has Uber while only one country has Lyft.
  - a3camero 9y ago
    Also Toronto now.
mastazi 9y ago
> [...] presence in so many cities around the world, and while that is a benefit, I'm not convinced it's enough It's enough in all those markets/countries where there is no viable alternative to Uber. Here in Australia the main competitor would be GoCatch but, while it's a very good app for calling taxis, the "private car / ridesharing" service is still in its infancy. Another field where Uber has no competitors thanks to its international presence is international travellers: when overseas, most people are obviously going to use Uber since it's a huge hassle to do your research and then sign up to local alternatives every time you travel.
- ghaff 9y ago
  >most people are obviously going to use Uber since it's a huge hassle to do your research and then sign up to local alternatives every time you travel. Or we just use a taxi in the many cities where there is decent taxi service. I travel to London a fair bit and rarely bother with using Uber there.
  - eric_h 9y ago
    That works when you speak the local language. When you do not, using a local taxi can be a much more difficult experience, and in many places you are likely to be over charged. In Kiev, for example, very few of the taxi drivers speak English, and I don't speak Russian. Uber is both extremely easy to use there, there is no issue with the language barrier, and it is absurdly cheap (from my US perspective).
    - collyw 9y ago
      Written address or a map and a finger worked for me years before mobile phones were popular.
    - ghaff 9y ago
      I guess. Not that I use Uber/Lyft much, but in the US I've had a number of times when the driver ends up calling me because their GPS has ended up taking them to the wrong side of the hotel or whatever. My experience hasn't really been the smartphone making all verbal communication unnecessary.
huac 9y ago
The Uber app is objectively better than Lyft's, and their pooling algorithm is subjectively better.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  Objectively better how? Please be specific.
  - huac 9y ago
    Just try using it on Android. Regardless of if you like Uber's design better (which I think it is, though design can be subjective), Lyft would often show wrong locations, not show if a driver had cancelled, not cancelling rides when you try to cancel, and much more.
  - austinshea 9y ago
    After a recent lost and found experience with Lyft, I can say that uber has thought through this process in their software. Drivers can be paid for delivering lost items, and the process is kicked off without the need for customer service staff. Lyft had no infrastructure fpr this, and relied on Zendesk and customer service reps to facilitate the delivery. There was no function for paying the driver, the item was delivered days later because i had to wait for someone to answer a Zendesk ticket, and even then there was no way for the rep to set up proxy calls between me and the driver. There are other reasons to suggest that Lyft lacks technological expertise, but this is a perfect example of a feature that is well considered by Uber and not considered at all by Lyft. I'd love to support Lyft more, but I am forced to use a substandard product in order to do so.
    - hatred 9y ago
      Hmm, my experience with Lyft was slightly different. I went to past trips, clicked find lost item. The support reached out to the driver in 10 minutes and I had the driver at my door in a hour. Haven’t Lost an item with Uber though for comparison.
JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> Here in NYC we also have Juno and Gett Just Juno, now [1]. (Gett acquired Juno and retired the former's brand in New York.) My personal favorite. Prediction: Juno will pass Lyft in 2018, in New York City, to become Uber's No. 2. [1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/on-demand-ride-service-gett-confirms-acquisition-of-juno-for-200m/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/on-demand-ride-service-get...
parasubvert 9y ago
Lyft is fine, but FAR from better. It has much less thought put into the app and almost no global coverage (I don’t live in the USA). I keep hearing Uber is replaceable, but no one has really done it yet. This strikes me as underestimating how hard it has been to pull off what they’ve done.

by untog 9y ago

wuliwong 9y ago

I think there are a lot of places around the world that have Uber but don't have Lyft. Uber has competition in some areas but it seems like there's a lot of places where it doesn't have much.

untog 9y ago
Sure, but wide coverage doesn't come for free. Uber has to set up regional offices, advertise to local drivers, etc. etc. in each city in which it operates. It's not difficult to make the business case that you should actually just focus on a small number of huge cities instead - your chance for profit is much higher.
- wuliwong 9y ago
  I cannot really comment on the difficulty of making the business case for only huge cities. But I am not convinced that marketing to non-Huge cities isn't profitable.
kingnothing 9y ago
Lyft is only in the US, so yes, most of the world has Uber while only one country has Lyft.
- a3camero 9y ago
  Also Toronto now.

mastazi 9y ago

> [...] presence in so many cities around the world, and while that is a benefit, I'm not convinced it's enough It's enough in all those markets/countries where there is no viable alternative to Uber. Here in Australia the main competitor would be GoCatch but, while it's a very good app for calling taxis, the "private car / ridesharing" service is still in its infancy. Another field where Uber has no competitors thanks to its international presence is international travellers: when overseas, most people are obviously going to use Uber since it's a huge hassle to do your research and then sign up to local alternatives every time you travel.

ghaff 9y ago
>most people are obviously going to use Uber since it's a huge hassle to do your research and then sign up to local alternatives every time you travel. Or we just use a taxi in the many cities where there is decent taxi service. I travel to London a fair bit and rarely bother with using Uber there.
- eric_h 9y ago
  That works when you speak the local language. When you do not, using a local taxi can be a much more difficult experience, and in many places you are likely to be over charged. In Kiev, for example, very few of the taxi drivers speak English, and I don't speak Russian. Uber is both extremely easy to use there, there is no issue with the language barrier, and it is absurdly cheap (from my US perspective).
  - collyw 9y ago
    Written address or a map and a finger worked for me years before mobile phones were popular.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    I guess. Not that I use Uber/Lyft much, but in the US I've had a number of times when the driver ends up calling me because their GPS has ended up taking them to the wrong side of the hotel or whatever. My experience hasn't really been the smartphone making all verbal communication unnecessary.

huac 9y ago

The Uber app is objectively better than Lyft's, and their pooling algorithm is subjectively better.

enraged_camel 9y ago
Objectively better how? Please be specific.
- huac 9y ago
  Just try using it on Android. Regardless of if you like Uber's design better (which I think it is, though design can be subjective), Lyft would often show wrong locations, not show if a driver had cancelled, not cancelling rides when you try to cancel, and much more.
- austinshea 9y ago
  After a recent lost and found experience with Lyft, I can say that uber has thought through this process in their software. Drivers can be paid for delivering lost items, and the process is kicked off without the need for customer service staff. Lyft had no infrastructure fpr this, and relied on Zendesk and customer service reps to facilitate the delivery. There was no function for paying the driver, the item was delivered days later because i had to wait for someone to answer a Zendesk ticket, and even then there was no way for the rep to set up proxy calls between me and the driver. There are other reasons to suggest that Lyft lacks technological expertise, but this is a perfect example of a feature that is well considered by Uber and not considered at all by Lyft. I'd love to support Lyft more, but I am forced to use a substandard product in order to do so.
  - hatred 9y ago
    Hmm, my experience with Lyft was slightly different. I went to past trips, clicked find lost item. The support reached out to the driver in 10 minutes and I had the driver at my door in a hour. Haven’t Lost an item with Uber though for comparison.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago

> Here in NYC we also have Juno and Gett Just Juno, now [1]. (Gett acquired Juno and retired the former's brand in New York.) My personal favorite. Prediction: Juno will pass Lyft in 2018, in New York City, to become Uber's No. 2. [1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/on-demand-ride-service-gett-confirms-acquisition-of-juno-for-200m/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/26/on-demand-ride-service-get...

parasubvert 9y ago

Lyft is fine, but FAR from better. It has much less thought put into the app and almost no global coverage (I don’t live in the USA). I keep hearing Uber is replaceable, but no one has really done it yet. This strikes me as underestimating how hard it has been to pull off what they’ve done.