5 ms·

I would like to respectfully disagree. Calling a cab is a nightmare, at least in San Francisco, prior to Uber. You were put on hold for several minutes, you had

I would like to respectfully disagree. Calling a cab is a nightmare, at least in San Francisco, prior to Uber. You were put on hold for several minutes, you had to explain where you were, the driver could not show up or show up extremely late. When you are inebriated, these steps can easily be considered overwhelming and lead to many people not wanting to go through the process. In contrast to open phone > tap uber app > tap call cab. The difference is night and day, and I think that's why the program will succeed now when it has failed before.

the_watcher 13y ago
The biggest upgrade is seeing where the car is. Calling a cab is basically playing the lottery in places like San Francisco, whereas with Lyft/Uber/Sidecar you get to see how far it is. It's much easier to convince yourself not to drive (if that's something drinking causes you to do) if you can see how long you will be waiting.
untog 13y ago
Calling a cab is a nightmare, at least in San Francisco, prior to Uber. This seems to be the central issue with Uber- it has solved a San Francisco problem, and is now trying to apply the same solution everywhere. There are a great many cities (including NFL franchise cities) where getting a cab is far from difficult. Yet players still drink and drive.
- awwstn 13y ago
  There are a great many cities (including NFL franchise cities) where getting a cab is far from difficult. Are there? In my experience, NYC is the only city where getting a cab is easy – and even there it's only easy in one borough. edit: Chicago is the only one I can think of that comes close, but it's still only easy to get a cab there in a limited few neighborhoods.
  - antsar 13y ago
    > NYC is the only city where getting a cab is easy Define "easy". I've had several infuriating experiences trying to get a cab in NYC, all of which ended in me walking or taking a subway instead. NYC has a lot of cabs, but they also have a lot of cab patrons.
    - colmvp 13y ago
      Not to mention many cab drivers won't venture outside of Manhattan.
  - HelloMcFly 13y ago
    I would argue it's easy to get a cab in Chicago from most parts of the city where people spend time at night. No, it's not easy to get a cab from the the West Side or Uptown at night, but that's because it doesn't need to be. The cabs follow the people.
  - drivebyacct2 13y ago
    You people are crazy (to me!). I love Uber in Seattle and couldn't imagine life without it. I guess I moved here and had Uber immediately available, but for someone who has never had to learn: - how/where to find cabs - how to signal to them - how to deal with them (going in circles, not knowing where they're going, etc) I can't imagine cabbing without Uber. It's a "duh" thing now. Duh, why the fuck wouldn't I use a smartphone to hail my cab. I sound like a damn Uber shill. Ha.
- aaronbrethorst 13y ago
  > This seems to be the central issue with Uber- it has solved a San Francisco problem, and is now trying to apply the same solution everywhere. Dealing with taxi dispatchers in Seattle is awful. They're rude, they don't tell you when your cab is coming, sometimes they just don't pick up. Some taxi drivers aren't much better. They can be extremely reticent to accept credit cards, and I have been refused service before because I wanted to pay with one. The introduction of Uber (and especially UberX) in Seattle has made deciding whether or not to drive a total no-brainer.
jacalata 13y ago
What make you think that the existing program was a regular cab? One would hardly describe "NFL players can call cabs" as "an existing union program where they call a phone number for a car" without intending to mislead.
- gojomo 13y ago
  The barely-described prior program could be slower than calling a cab, if it's a national call-center that then picks a city-specific service, and doesn't draw on as many providers. Clearly there have been problems with it. And if you're drunk and out past some contractual/implied curfew, talking to strangers is harder: there's some embarrassment involved. Pushing a button in an app depersonalizes the situation, helpfully so.
  - jacalata 13y ago
    According to this article (http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201304/nfl-players-worry-about-privacy-when-using-car-service http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201304/nfl-players-worry...) the major problem is privacy - players worried that the team management could find out that they'd been drinking (and to a lesser extent, cost, and perhaps to a greater extent, stupidity. Cost will be reduced with Uber, privacy should be less of a concern, and stupidity will remain unaffected).
brown9-2 13y ago
Note thought that the existing program for the players doesn't involve just calling any random yellow-car cab company - they have a special number and service set up.
- stonemetal 13y ago
  Yes but it probably was technologically similar. Still have to know your address rather than use GPS, no ETA tracking, etc.
brianbreslin 13y ago
Calling a cab in Miami is also a shitty experience. Incidentally cab "union" is fighting uber tooth and nail here.
tomhallett 13y ago
100% agree. Especially if the location you are at is very loud (ie bar/club), making a phone call is much more difficult than using an app.

the_watcher 13y ago

The biggest upgrade is seeing where the car is. Calling a cab is basically playing the lottery in places like San Francisco, whereas with Lyft/Uber/Sidecar you get to see how far it is. It's much easier to convince yourself not to drive (if that's something drinking causes you to do) if you can see how long you will be waiting.

untog 13y ago

Calling a cab is a nightmare, at least in San Francisco, prior to Uber. This seems to be the central issue with Uber- it has solved a San Francisco problem, and is now trying to apply the same solution everywhere. There are a great many cities (including NFL franchise cities) where getting a cab is far from difficult. Yet players still drink and drive.

awwstn 13y ago
There are a great many cities (including NFL franchise cities) where getting a cab is far from difficult. Are there? In my experience, NYC is the only city where getting a cab is easy – and even there it's only easy in one borough. edit: Chicago is the only one I can think of that comes close, but it's still only easy to get a cab there in a limited few neighborhoods.
- antsar 13y ago
  > NYC is the only city where getting a cab is easy Define "easy". I've had several infuriating experiences trying to get a cab in NYC, all of which ended in me walking or taking a subway instead. NYC has a lot of cabs, but they also have a lot of cab patrons.
  - colmvp 13y ago
    Not to mention many cab drivers won't venture outside of Manhattan.
- HelloMcFly 13y ago
  I would argue it's easy to get a cab in Chicago from most parts of the city where people spend time at night. No, it's not easy to get a cab from the the West Side or Uptown at night, but that's because it doesn't need to be. The cabs follow the people.
- drivebyacct2 13y ago
  You people are crazy (to me!). I love Uber in Seattle and couldn't imagine life without it. I guess I moved here and had Uber immediately available, but for someone who has never had to learn: - how/where to find cabs - how to signal to them - how to deal with them (going in circles, not knowing where they're going, etc) I can't imagine cabbing without Uber. It's a "duh" thing now. Duh, why the fuck wouldn't I use a smartphone to hail my cab. I sound like a damn Uber shill. Ha.
aaronbrethorst 13y ago
> This seems to be the central issue with Uber- it has solved a San Francisco problem, and is now trying to apply the same solution everywhere. Dealing with taxi dispatchers in Seattle is awful. They're rude, they don't tell you when your cab is coming, sometimes they just don't pick up. Some taxi drivers aren't much better. They can be extremely reticent to accept credit cards, and I have been refused service before because I wanted to pay with one. The introduction of Uber (and especially UberX) in Seattle has made deciding whether or not to drive a total no-brainer.

jacalata 13y ago

What make you think that the existing program was a regular cab? One would hardly describe "NFL players can call cabs" as "an existing union program where they call a phone number for a car" without intending to mislead.

gojomo 13y ago
The barely-described prior program could be slower than calling a cab, if it's a national call-center that then picks a city-specific service, and doesn't draw on as many providers. Clearly there have been problems with it. And if you're drunk and out past some contractual/implied curfew, talking to strangers is harder: there's some embarrassment involved. Pushing a button in an app depersonalizes the situation, helpfully so.
- jacalata 13y ago
  According to this article (http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201304/nfl-players-worry-about-privacy-when-using-car-service http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201304/nfl-players-worry...) the major problem is privacy - players worried that the team management could find out that they'd been drinking (and to a lesser extent, cost, and perhaps to a greater extent, stupidity. Cost will be reduced with Uber, privacy should be less of a concern, and stupidity will remain unaffected).

brown9-2 13y ago

Note thought that the existing program for the players doesn't involve just calling any random yellow-car cab company - they have a special number and service set up.

stonemetal 13y ago
Yes but it probably was technologically similar. Still have to know your address rather than use GPS, no ETA tracking, etc.

brianbreslin 13y ago

Calling a cab in Miami is also a shitty experience. Incidentally cab "union" is fighting uber tooth and nail here.

tomhallett 13y ago

100% agree. Especially if the location you are at is very loud (ie bar/club), making a phone call is much more difficult than using an app.