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They announced a change of brand a month ago. I guess adding “One” at the end of the existing name counts, and I like the implication that they want to communic

by bertil 8y ago

They announced a change of brand a month ago. I guess adding “One” at the end of the existing name counts, and I like the implication that they want to communicate clearly on phases of the project but… Was it worth announcing a brand change? I feel like I’m missing something.

zerealshadowban 8y ago
Logically, we should expect them to launch a Waymo Two service (or Zero!?) -- and so the relevant question is: what will be different about it?
bryanlarsen 8y ago
They promised a public launch by the end of the year, and they're delivering on their promise even if there are no substantive changes.
- bertil 8y ago
  Absolutely — and given the potential global growth of the service, committing and delivering on a schedule is a promising sign. I was just puzzled by the added information that they would change the brand: they didn’t need to (and they haven’t, not really).
- Fricken 8y ago
  It isn't public, randos in Chandler can't download the app and take a ride, they need to be approved as members of the easy rider program. Waymo has lifted their NDAs, so now they can talk openly about their experiences.
danvoell 8y ago
Felt the exact same way. Why add the One? Did something really change and is there a difference between Waymo and Waymo One? Just confusing folks.
pavelrub 8y ago
I'm not sure I understand. What brand change? Wyamo is the name of the company. Waymo One is the name of the service they are launching.
- adrianmonk 8y ago
  Yes, seems like this can be viewed as adding a sub-brand, not a brand change. Like Amazon Prime and Amazon AWS are both sub-brands of Amazon. One could speculate they're planning ahead, making space for another brand, either a different variation of SDC as a service or some other type of product. Maybe they'll have SDCs with multiple riders (like Uber Pool) and call it Waymo Share. Or maybe they'll have self-driving commuter buses (like Chariot) and call it Waymo Shuttle. Once you've mastered SDCs, there are just so many applications that you almost expect to do multiple things with it. They could license to car manufacturers and call that WaymOEM, sell their own cars and call it Waymotors, do trucks and call it Waymo Freight, etc., etc.

by bertil 8y ago

zerealshadowban 8y ago

Logically, we should expect them to launch a Waymo Two service (or Zero!?) -- and so the relevant question is: what will be different about it?

bryanlarsen 8y ago

They promised a public launch by the end of the year, and they're delivering on their promise even if there are no substantive changes.

bertil 8y ago
Absolutely — and given the potential global growth of the service, committing and delivering on a schedule is a promising sign. I was just puzzled by the added information that they would change the brand: they didn’t need to (and they haven’t, not really).
Fricken 8y ago
It isn't public, randos in Chandler can't download the app and take a ride, they need to be approved as members of the easy rider program. Waymo has lifted their NDAs, so now they can talk openly about their experiences.

danvoell 8y ago

Felt the exact same way. Why add the One? Did something really change and is there a difference between Waymo and Waymo One? Just confusing folks.

pavelrub 8y ago

I'm not sure I understand. What brand change? Wyamo is the name of the company. Waymo One is the name of the service they are launching.

adrianmonk 8y ago
Yes, seems like this can be viewed as adding a sub-brand, not a brand change. Like Amazon Prime and Amazon AWS are both sub-brands of Amazon. One could speculate they're planning ahead, making space for another brand, either a different variation of SDC as a service or some other type of product. Maybe they'll have SDCs with multiple riders (like Uber Pool) and call it Waymo Share. Or maybe they'll have self-driving commuter buses (like Chariot) and call it Waymo Shuttle. Once you've mastered SDCs, there are just so many applications that you almost expect to do multiple things with it. They could license to car manufacturers and call that WaymOEM, sell their own cars and call it Waymotors, do trucks and call it Waymo Freight, etc., etc.