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"My theory is once the novelty wears off..." FWIW, for a lot of us in the city, the novelties been off for a while. It's now completely replaced uber/lyfts for

"My theory is once the novelty wears off..." FWIW, for a lot of us in the city, the novelties been off for a while. It's now completely replaced uber/lyfts for me, because the driver is a lot more patient, especially with loading children (mini-car seat installation, strollers et al.) and a 100% of my rides have been completely uneventful, no notes, no garbage, no "wAyMo in AccIdeNt". My wife feels safe taking them at night. I realize digital journalism has no space for this, but I wish there was space for the rest of the public to get messages like: "this service came up and is boringly being used as intended".

skunkworker 2y ago
Anecdotal, but around college campuses (ASU in particular), many people like Waymo because there isn't a creepy driver in the front seat.
fnordpiglet 2y ago
Right but this is now. The novelty is still there and margin compression hasn’t really happened yet. Being a loss leading jaguar vehicle with plenty of off time to clean and reputational concerns are still top of mind. Novelty here didn’t mean for you - it meant for companies operating driverless cars. The next step is enshitification then dive to bottom minimal margin maximal volume businesses. Of course major infractions will be caught. Taking a dump in the Waymo on camera will be punished. But the small incremental dirtying caused by constant and increasingly negligent use unmediated by social cohesion will lead to the public bathroom effect. Margin compression will require taxis reduce amenities and increase time between service stops. There will probably be tiered services but the bottom tier will be disgusting. I’ll put my $20 on it now.