12 ms·

Waymo is readying a ride-hailing service that could directly compete with Uber

54 points by jonknee 9y ago

euyyn 9y ago
Is there anyone here from Phoenix, that has tried their app to hail one?
- guofangli 9y ago
  Like to hear some first hand experience too.
- donclark 9y ago
  Where can one find this so called app? Or is this something sent directly to specific people? Waymo is supposedly in Alanta, but I cant find any details on how to use it. I would totally give it a try and do a video.
- Z1nfandel 9y ago
  I see them driving all over the place and they put out a signup for beta testing the app/service, but noone I know has been accepted.
- ilaksh 9y ago
  There is no app or service yet. It says readying for this year. The people that tried it are in the early rider program.
Animats 9y ago
Google may have a hard time with this. Google has never been good at paid services which require people on the ground to keep them working. Look at the Google Fiber debacle. Or the problems of being a small Google advertising customer. Google just doesn't have a customer service culture.
- justicezyx 9y ago
  > Look at the Google Fiber debacle. AFAIK, based on public information, Google Fiber is well received by customers.
  - Animats 9y ago
    "Google Fiber division cuts staff by 9%, “pauses” fiber plans in 11 cities"[1] [1] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/google-fiber-laying-off-9-of-staff-will-pause-plans-for-10-cities/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/googl...
    - scarmig 9y ago
      Being well-received by consumers doesn't have much to do with business success, in the broadband market. Perhaps it's a matter of low bars, but Google's customer service and general reception definitely was far superior to, e.g., Comcast's. The issues Fiber ran into were more about taking on entrenched monopolists, and not general uptake or customer dissatisfaction.
    - skellera 9y ago
      Fiber no longer makes sense. The cost of laying cables is extremely high and 5g wireless is on pace to deliver similar speeds without the same costs. Google reallocated resources to wireless when they reduced them for fiber.
  - cbhl 9y ago
    But less well-received by the neighbors of those customers: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article49959860.html http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article49959860.ht... http://www.mystatesman.com/business/google-fiber-install-process-draws-hundreds-complaints/hQpe76Bi5GW5VrbbsJ5wdJ/ http://www.mystatesman.com/business/google-fiber-install-pro... http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article123001079.html http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article123001... [ disclaimer: I work at Google, but not on Fiber. This post is my opinion, not that of my employer. ]
whatyoucantsay 9y ago
Taking money from Google (or Amazon) can be a Faustian bargain. They gain insight regarding your operations, how much profit there might be in competing with you... and how to defeat you.
- zpatel 9y ago
  sounds like microsoft of the 1980s and 1990s.
  - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
    Yes. Except M$, as it was known, didn't have employees vote brigading Slashdot.
Fricken 9y ago
In November Waymo said their robotaxi service would be available to the public in 'a few months'. Now that a few months have passed, they're saying 'this year'.
- euyyn 9y ago
  Will still be a few months if it's this year, no?
Overtonwindow 9y ago
Something I noticed is that all of the Lyft drives I call, have Uber stickers on their car, and work for both. Will we just see cars someday that are whichever service you want?
- dschnurr 9y ago
  No – the services will likely own the cars (much like Waymo owns these chrysler pacificas).
pasbesoin 9y ago
Another Google service devoid of humanity. God forbid the help page doesn't suffice, when your ride bootloops in the middle of nowhere or a bad neighborhood.
- monk_e_boy 9y ago
  Don't use it... what is the point of commenting rubbish like this? If you have concerns / bug reports, fine, but i bet you've never been in a self driving car.
  - pasbesoin 9y ago
    The point is, the one thing they respond to is bad PR -- when it gets bad enough. They have the financial resources to do a move into this field -- or most any field -- right. Until they actually demonstrate doing so, they deserve the continued criticism. Still waiting on my Android updates, so I can turn wifi back on on my 6 month old phone. And I'd have them, if my year and a bit old Nexus 5x hadn't bootlooped. Google Fiber got one town away, and crapped out. Granted, they don't "owe" me service, in that case. But another venture we started hoping in, effectively snuffed out. As for self-driving cars, I spent 3+ months helping someone get back on their feet, who'd lost their license. Uber were a real "godsend" for her. But at the same time, I watched Uber breaking regulations and grabbing marketshare by burning investor dollars, pushing towards an effective monopoly or duopoloy. The exit strategy for same apparently being to switch to self-driving vehicles to reduce costs, before their runway ran out. Dumping all their "non-employee" drivers at that point. And learning more about how drivers, especially after eating vehicle expenses and such, weren't actually making that much. And this at a time when, eventually, "free market" Republicans were pushing to take away the primary health care option (the ACA) available to those drivers who actually pursued the work as a full-time job. And that person whom Uber helped out, turned out to be as big a user as they are. A rather symbolic synergy, in anecdote. Meantime, Uber now proposes [yes, that change in verb case is intentional] that they have an effective monopoly on driverless vehicles in urban areas. Yeah, so I've been paying a bit of attention to this. Now, some effective competition would be nice. And my parents are going to need it, pretty soon. But they're my parents, and they're going to need more than the typical Google level of non-support. They already have that with their smartphones. So, if Google wants to do this, they should... Well, I think it was actually better when the engineers ran the place. Things would get missed, but once they were pointed out, the engineers would honestly -- if not always effectively -- be interested in addressing them. Problem solvers. Whatever's going on with Google, now, it seems to transcend the "why doesn't everyone just understand this" mindset. If you're going to have thousands upon thousands of vehicles interacting with ordinary people including a lot of seniors who are more or less just "getting by" with their phones. Well, then, you'd better provide some effective human oversight and involvement, down to the customer level. When I call Google Fi, I get actual U.S. based associates who seem, some at least, relatively smart and engaged. That's a start. Next up, stand behind your product. Doesn't matter who made it, you're selling it. And for those pointy-haired bosses: Yes, "goodwill" does have a value -- to accountants, even.

54 points by jonknee 9y ago

euyyn 9y ago

Is there anyone here from Phoenix, that has tried their app to hail one?

guofangli 9y ago
Like to hear some first hand experience too.
donclark 9y ago
Where can one find this so called app? Or is this something sent directly to specific people? Waymo is supposedly in Alanta, but I cant find any details on how to use it. I would totally give it a try and do a video.
Z1nfandel 9y ago
I see them driving all over the place and they put out a signup for beta testing the app/service, but noone I know has been accepted.
ilaksh 9y ago
There is no app or service yet. It says readying for this year. The people that tried it are in the early rider program.

Animats 9y ago

Google may have a hard time with this. Google has never been good at paid services which require people on the ground to keep them working. Look at the Google Fiber debacle. Or the problems of being a small Google advertising customer. Google just doesn't have a customer service culture.

justicezyx 9y ago
> Look at the Google Fiber debacle. AFAIK, based on public information, Google Fiber is well received by customers.
- Animats 9y ago
  "Google Fiber division cuts staff by 9%, “pauses” fiber plans in 11 cities"[1] [1] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/google-fiber-laying-off-9-of-staff-will-pause-plans-for-10-cities/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/10/googl...
  - scarmig 9y ago
    Being well-received by consumers doesn't have much to do with business success, in the broadband market. Perhaps it's a matter of low bars, but Google's customer service and general reception definitely was far superior to, e.g., Comcast's. The issues Fiber ran into were more about taking on entrenched monopolists, and not general uptake or customer dissatisfaction.
  - skellera 9y ago
    Fiber no longer makes sense. The cost of laying cables is extremely high and 5g wireless is on pace to deliver similar speeds without the same costs. Google reallocated resources to wireless when they reduced them for fiber.
- cbhl 9y ago
  But less well-received by the neighbors of those customers: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article49959860.html http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article49959860.ht... http://www.mystatesman.com/business/google-fiber-install-process-draws-hundreds-complaints/hQpe76Bi5GW5VrbbsJ5wdJ/ http://www.mystatesman.com/business/google-fiber-install-pro... http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article123001079.html http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article123001... [ disclaimer: I work at Google, but not on Fiber. This post is my opinion, not that of my employer. ]

whatyoucantsay 9y ago

Taking money from Google (or Amazon) can be a Faustian bargain. They gain insight regarding your operations, how much profit there might be in competing with you... and how to defeat you.

zpatel 9y ago
sounds like microsoft of the 1980s and 1990s.
- whatyoucantsay 9y ago
  Yes. Except M$, as it was known, didn't have employees vote brigading Slashdot.

Fricken 9y ago

In November Waymo said their robotaxi service would be available to the public in 'a few months'. Now that a few months have passed, they're saying 'this year'.

euyyn 9y ago
Will still be a few months if it's this year, no?

Overtonwindow 9y ago

Something I noticed is that all of the Lyft drives I call, have Uber stickers on their car, and work for both. Will we just see cars someday that are whichever service you want?

dschnurr 9y ago
No – the services will likely own the cars (much like Waymo owns these chrysler pacificas).

pasbesoin 9y ago

Another Google service devoid of humanity. God forbid the help page doesn't suffice, when your ride bootloops in the middle of nowhere or a bad neighborhood.

monk_e_boy 9y ago
Don't use it... what is the point of commenting rubbish like this? If you have concerns / bug reports, fine, but i bet you've never been in a self driving car.
- pasbesoin 9y ago
  The point is, the one thing they respond to is bad PR -- when it gets bad enough. They have the financial resources to do a move into this field -- or most any field -- right. Until they actually demonstrate doing so, they deserve the continued criticism. Still waiting on my Android updates, so I can turn wifi back on on my 6 month old phone. And I'd have them, if my year and a bit old Nexus 5x hadn't bootlooped. Google Fiber got one town away, and crapped out. Granted, they don't "owe" me service, in that case. But another venture we started hoping in, effectively snuffed out. As for self-driving cars, I spent 3+ months helping someone get back on their feet, who'd lost their license. Uber were a real "godsend" for her. But at the same time, I watched Uber breaking regulations and grabbing marketshare by burning investor dollars, pushing towards an effective monopoly or duopoloy. The exit strategy for same apparently being to switch to self-driving vehicles to reduce costs, before their runway ran out. Dumping all their "non-employee" drivers at that point. And learning more about how drivers, especially after eating vehicle expenses and such, weren't actually making that much. And this at a time when, eventually, "free market" Republicans were pushing to take away the primary health care option (the ACA) available to those drivers who actually pursued the work as a full-time job. And that person whom Uber helped out, turned out to be as big a user as they are. A rather symbolic synergy, in anecdote. Meantime, Uber now proposes [yes, that change in verb case is intentional] that they have an effective monopoly on driverless vehicles in urban areas. Yeah, so I've been paying a bit of attention to this. Now, some effective competition would be nice. And my parents are going to need it, pretty soon. But they're my parents, and they're going to need more than the typical Google level of non-support. They already have that with their smartphones. So, if Google wants to do this, they should... Well, I think it was actually better when the engineers ran the place. Things would get missed, but once they were pointed out, the engineers would honestly -- if not always effectively -- be interested in addressing them. Problem solvers. Whatever's going on with Google, now, it seems to transcend the "why doesn't everyone just understand this" mindset. If you're going to have thousands upon thousands of vehicles interacting with ordinary people including a lot of seniors who are more or less just "getting by" with their phones. Well, then, you'd better provide some effective human oversight and involvement, down to the customer level. When I call Google Fi, I get actual U.S. based associates who seem, some at least, relatively smart and engaged. That's a start. Next up, stand behind your product. Doesn't matter who made it, you're selling it. And for those pointy-haired bosses: Yes, "goodwill" does have a value -- to accountants, even.