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The bigger picture is that Waymo is now the most interesting company in self-driving technology. If you want to do real work that is the place to be. I hear tha
by WisNorCan 8y ago
The bigger picture is that Waymo is now the most interesting company in self-driving technology. If you want to do real work that is the place to be. I hear that people are also leaving Uber's efforts. I expect them to absorb the best people in the industry and building a real business from here.
Waymo has established a multi-year technology advantage over Uber. The best objections to Waymo winning are three-fold:
1) Google doesn't have the user-facing apps - The reality is that Google has a far larger surface area than Uber to consumers. They own Calendar, Maps, Assistant, Android, Gmail and each of these can be entry points into self-driving. "I see you have an appointment in 15 minutes, want me to order you a cab?"
2) Google doesn't have experience operating a physical business - This is something they will have to learn. Google has the choice of partnering/purchasing if needed to build fleet operations companies. There are some unorthodox acquisitions to consider here (Avis?). However, Uber and Lyft do not really have this experience either.
3) Google doesn't have a great track record of incubating new businesses - Amazon has a far stronger track record than Uber of bringing up new lines of business.
With the mismanagement of Uber over the past years, Uber is at significant risk of missing the next technology wave, the way traditional taxi companies missed the last shift. Uber might be holding the equivalent of second-generation taxi medallions as the third generation takes off.
- czardoz 8y agoHow does Uber not have experience operating a physical business? They actually have customer support etc (Google has it for minimal products).
- WisNorCan 8y agoAnswering the phone is very different than operating a local physical products company. Mechanical failures, repairs, accidents, charging the vehicles, vandalism, etc. etc. Think about how hard it is for consumer companies to sell to enterprises. Microsoft is terrible at consumer. Google is terrible at enterprise. This is a much bigger leap than consumer -> enterprise. Uber and Waymo both have a lot to learn here. That’s why I think companies like Avis etc are potential unorthodox acquisitions that we will see.
- mandeepj 8y ago> Microsoft is terrible at consumer. care to explain more?
- WisNorCan 8y agoIE, Messenger, Hotmail, Windows, Skype are all examples of products in the #1 position that Microsoft mismanaged and lost. Microsoft’s success in coming from behind is even worse: Windows Phone, Zune, Spaces (!) There are minor exceptions. Xbox was incubated in a different group and only survived because they kept Microsoft’s crazy ideas out. Even there Xbox is falling behind PS under Satya. In Enterprise, Microsoft is incredible. Azure is serious competition for AWS. Teams will take share in the slack category. Office is a monster business.
- mandeepj 8y agoI'm sorry to say - you are a bit disconnected. IE reincarnated as Edge Hotmail -> Outlook (one of the best if not the best) Windows (Hugely popular. Windows 10 is the best so far) Skpye (Unreasonable baby cries) Xbox one, Hololens - going good so far
- havetocharge 8y agoWhat is Edge?
- mandeepj 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Edge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Edge
- havetocharge 8y agoI see. Objectively, it has a long way to go in ways of adoption before it can be deemed a success.
- deegles 8y agoI would not ride a non-Waymo vehicle out of concern for my safety. I’m a software engineer and am not impressed by the available information about their competitors development practices.