5 ms·

They may add value vs taxis, but would Uber or Lyft add value vs any other startup taxi service? Expanding further, How about a taxi-app you and I could sit do

They may add value vs taxis, but would Uber or Lyft add value vs any other startup taxi service? Expanding further, How about a taxi-app you and I could sit down and hack out? How much value-add is there in an Uber or Lyft vs what we could do?

Apocryphon 7y ago
Doesn't Flywheel already own that space?
berbec 7y ago
Be careful, you're suspiciously close to saying the uber is nothing more than FTP, curlftpfs and CVS. [1] I'm not arguing that Uber is worth it value, but dismissing the tech & usability involved is a treacherous road to go down. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
JohnFen 7y ago
In my area, they add no real value over the standard taxi companies. Literally the only advantage to them is that they're cheaper (which is an artificial and unsustainable difference). Everything else they do is also done equally well by the cab companies. That may be why there aren't an increasing number of Uber and Lyft drivers here, but the taxi companies are expanding.
- andreilys 7y ago
  Do your local cab companies offer the equivalent of uber pool or lyft line?
- avn2109 7y ago
  In your area, do taxi companies operate a service "Lift Line" or the uber equivalent, in which you share a taxis with strangers who are going in a similar direction? I have never seen a non-app taxi service do this, and it's a real genuine technology enabled value add. Is it 50 billion bucks worth? Probably not. But it isn't 0 either.
  - jbarberu 7y ago
    I grew up with something like this. We called them buses, they were pretty cool :)
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    I have no idea, since that's not a feature that I'd notice or look for. > I have never seen a non-app taxi service do this What do you mean by a non-app taxi service? All of the taxi companies here have apps that work pretty much the same as Uber and Lyft's.

Apocryphon 7y ago

Doesn't Flywheel already own that space?

berbec 7y ago

Be careful, you're suspiciously close to saying the uber is nothing more than FTP, curlftpfs and CVS. [1] I'm not arguing that Uber is worth it value, but dismissing the tech & usability involved is a treacherous road to go down. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

JohnFen 7y ago

In my area, they add no real value over the standard taxi companies. Literally the only advantage to them is that they're cheaper (which is an artificial and unsustainable difference). Everything else they do is also done equally well by the cab companies. That may be why there aren't an increasing number of Uber and Lyft drivers here, but the taxi companies are expanding.

andreilys 7y ago
Do your local cab companies offer the equivalent of uber pool or lyft line?
avn2109 7y ago
In your area, do taxi companies operate a service "Lift Line" or the uber equivalent, in which you share a taxis with strangers who are going in a similar direction? I have never seen a non-app taxi service do this, and it's a real genuine technology enabled value add. Is it 50 billion bucks worth? Probably not. But it isn't 0 either.
- jbarberu 7y ago
  I grew up with something like this. We called them buses, they were pretty cool :)
- JohnFen 7y ago
  I have no idea, since that's not a feature that I'd notice or look for. > I have never seen a non-app taxi service do this What do you mean by a non-app taxi service? All of the taxi companies here have apps that work pretty much the same as Uber and Lyft's.