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I love the idea of electric scooter (and bike) sharing but in practice it just doesn't work. Link scooters just started showing up in Seattle and I decided to

I love the idea of electric scooter (and bike) sharing but in practice it just doesn't work. Link scooters just started showing up in Seattle and I decided to take one a couple miles to meet up with a friend for dinner. It would have been faster to walk there. After bout 6 or 7 minutes of riding and only making it half a mile (and one harrowing experience with a yellow light), I stopped at a Jump bike. I opened the Uber app to book it and couldn't figure out how so I opened the Jump app. I wasn't signed in and my Uber password wasn't stored in my password manager so I had to reset my password. After doing that I finally made it into the Jump app only to have a single button that says "Launch Uber" and I was back to where I started. Of course I now had to sign in to the Uber app again since I just reset my password. I still couldn't figure out how to book the thing so I just called a Lyft and finally made it to the restaurant. (I did finally figure out how to book it once I was in the car. I think my problem was that maybe the bike I was standing near wasn't showing up on the map.) It was a bit of a comedy of errors last night but all my other experiences with electric scooters have been pretty inconvenient.

cinntaile 6y ago
Here you open up the app, scan the QR code and you're good to go. This is pretty much a solved problem but yes if you're logged out it can get time consuming. The problem, to me at least, is that they're quite expensive to use. I get why. Servicing them is expensive, the scooters often get vandalized and people don't take care of them.
recuter 6y ago
They demoed using an NFC qr-code type sticker thingy a year and a half ago: https://developer.apple.com/app-clips/ https://developer.apple.com/app-clips/ https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18618336/apple-pay-bird-electric-scooter-rent-nfc-tag https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18618336/apple-pay-bird-e... It's supposed to be one tap with no app installed when you walk up to one.
leoedin 6y ago
That's not a problem with scooter and bike sharing, but with that specific app. I've used a whole range of bike and scooter systems, some docked and some dockless, and mostly the apps worked fine. Scan a QR code, unlock and off you go. It can definitely work seamlessly.
throwawayboise 6y ago
The smartphone experience in a nutshell. Life was easier without them.
- LambdaComplex 6y ago
  That seems needlessly reactionary. You really think life was easier before having an entire internet-connected computer in your pocket? Simpler? Eh, maybe. But easier? Nah. Contact just about anyone from just about anywhere. Never need to carry a paper map (or several). Be able to look up just about any information you could need. Etc etc
SahAssar 6y ago
Aren't all your problems with the apps, not with the actual scooters?

cinntaile 6y ago

Here you open up the app, scan the QR code and you're good to go. This is pretty much a solved problem but yes if you're logged out it can get time consuming. The problem, to me at least, is that they're quite expensive to use. I get why. Servicing them is expensive, the scooters often get vandalized and people don't take care of them.

recuter 6y ago

They demoed using an NFC qr-code type sticker thingy a year and a half ago: https://developer.apple.com/app-clips/ https://developer.apple.com/app-clips/ https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18618336/apple-pay-bird-electric-scooter-rent-nfc-tag https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18618336/apple-pay-bird-e... It's supposed to be one tap with no app installed when you walk up to one.

leoedin 6y ago

That's not a problem with scooter and bike sharing, but with that specific app. I've used a whole range of bike and scooter systems, some docked and some dockless, and mostly the apps worked fine. Scan a QR code, unlock and off you go. It can definitely work seamlessly.

throwawayboise 6y ago

The smartphone experience in a nutshell. Life was easier without them.

LambdaComplex 6y ago
That seems needlessly reactionary. You really think life was easier before having an entire internet-connected computer in your pocket? Simpler? Eh, maybe. But easier? Nah. Contact just about anyone from just about anywhere. Never need to carry a paper map (or several). Be able to look up just about any information you could need. Etc etc

SahAssar 6y ago

Aren't all your problems with the apps, not with the actual scooters?