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>I still find it hard to comprehend how a one of the tools of a taxi calling app has this much complexity and have thousands of engineers working on it . Fyi..

by jasode 4y ago

>I still find it hard to comprehend how a one of the tools of a taxi calling app has this much complexity and have thousands of engineers working on it . Fyi... have you already seen the famous Uber engineer comment on the complexity of the app? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25376346 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25376346 As a case study, the simpler non-profit RideAustin app fails customers even after Uber/Lyft left Austin: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/12/austin-is-fine-without-uber-and-lyft-until-it-isnt/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/12/austin-is-fine-without-ube... It takes a lot of money and engineer salaries to make high-demand apps that work. That's not to say Uber staffing isn't bloated; they may be. That doesn't change the fact that armchair observers may still drastically underestimate how many hundreds (or thousands) of programmers it requires to build something equivalent.

Jensson 4y ago
Bolt (Taxify) built a similar service with a few hundred people and has now taken a significant market share in Europe. At least the people I talk to recommend taking bolt over uber since it is the same service but cheaper. It has a map and you can see where you are live etc, and it schedules rides intelligently so you can get a ride with a car that is full but is about to drop off near you, just like uber. Not sure why Uber needs so many people in silicon valley when apparently you can build an equivalent service with a few hundred people in Estonia costing 1/10 per head.
emmelaich 4y ago
from that thread ... > It genuinely blows my mind anyone who has written software couldn't have guessed at all of this from the beginning. Classic. People cannot comprehend why it is complex and others cannot comprehend why it would not be complex!
- ZephyrBlu 4y ago
  It's hard to fathom how people can think software like Uber is not complex. I have to assume they've never worked in a large software company before.

by jasode 4y ago

Jensson 4y ago

Bolt (Taxify) built a similar service with a few hundred people and has now taken a significant market share in Europe. At least the people I talk to recommend taking bolt over uber since it is the same service but cheaper. It has a map and you can see where you are live etc, and it schedules rides intelligently so you can get a ride with a car that is full but is about to drop off near you, just like uber. Not sure why Uber needs so many people in silicon valley when apparently you can build an equivalent service with a few hundred people in Estonia costing 1/10 per head.

emmelaich 4y ago

from that thread ... > It genuinely blows my mind anyone who has written software couldn't have guessed at all of this from the beginning. Classic. People cannot comprehend why it is complex and others cannot comprehend why it would not be complex!

ZephyrBlu 4y ago
It's hard to fathom how people can think software like Uber is not complex. I have to assume they've never worked in a large software company before.