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Well I drive around London a lot during the day time (inside CC zone) and Google Maps is pretty damn good on Android. I did a few years in taxis but owning a c

Well I drive around London a lot during the day time (inside CC zone) and Google Maps is pretty damn good on Android. I did a few years in taxis but owning a car that is CC exempt is cheaper including parking in NCP holes. Part of the reason its cheaper is after some experience driving around the city, you realise that at least half the taxi drivers are taking the piss. "the knowledge" is imminently replaceable by technology and is merely a party trick IMHO.

jedc 12y ago
It's not completely replaceable by technology. Once I had gotten a text from my wife as to where to meet her for dinner with friends. She didn't know the restaurant name, and had gotten the street name wrong. I just read the text to my London black cab driver, he asked me: "Did you mean XXX restaurant on [correct street name]?" (Note: there were multiple restaurants on the street). And sure enough, he was 100% correct. That's the day I learned to really respect drivers with The Knowledge.
- custardcream 12y ago
  That's probably not "The Knowledge"; that's just some local experience and the fact that it's a high probability someone is going from that precise restaurant quite often. I myself have drunkenly hailed many a taxi outside dodgy restaurants in London. Unlicensed minicabs are pretty good at that too. Conversely, got a taxi from Angel to Leyton and the idiot went via Poplar and the A13 and the journey cost me £55 for a £30 journey.
  - jedc 12y ago
    Maybe I wasn't clear... I was in a couple miles away at home and told this driver the wrong street (and no restaurant name) and he got me where I needed to go. You might put it down to "local experience" but I think it's better attributed to the knowledge; there's no way a minicab driver would have been able to do the same. As you rightly point out, it doesn't mean that drivers won't still take the piss, but it definitely limits it. (Particularly when I compare it to virtually any other large city I've traveled to.)
  - kitd 12y ago
    Read the article. Updating the Knowledge is exactly what they do when businesses open and close.
  - rurounijones 12y ago
    The knowledge is not only the streets, they also have to memorise "points of interest" which includes things like pubs and restaurants.
    - custardcream 12y ago
      But that's illogical. If you know the bar and restaurant scene in London, it's very volatile. Restaurants and bars change names at an incredible rate. "The knowledge" will have expired by the time you've learned it.
      - jedc 12y ago
        You must not have read the article. There's an expectation that drivers keep their knowledge current. Certainly the examiners keep their knowledge current and test based on that.
        custardcream 12y ago
        I did. I really don't think you understand the scale of the problem.
        AmirS2 12y ago
        It's certainly a large scale problem, but a smaller problem than learning all the points of interest in the first place ... no one is saying it's easy ...
        deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
jeffwass 12y ago
Wow, you're really calling a course of study that usually takes 3-4 years to complete a "party trick" because it's replaceable by technology? By that reasoning, isn't any job any of us have on this forum also replaceable by sufficient technology? Anyway, back on topic, "the knowledge" also covers alternative routes for road closures. I've usually been pretty impressed by black cabs. They know obscure little streets on the opposite side of town. Rarely have to give instructions. Compared to NYC where cabbies ask me how to get somewhere.
- syllogism 12y ago
  > Wow, you're really calling a course of study that usually takes 3-4 years to complete a "party trick" because it's replaceable by technology? Yes of course!! Some other party tricks include reciting hours of lyric poetry from memory, adding large numbers in your head quickly, etc. You're talking like the world is fair or something. There's not necessarily an equivalence between effort expended and value created.
  - jeffwass 12y ago
    Are there any skills you have, degrees you've completed,or knowledge you possess that you wouldn't also consider a party trick?
    - syllogism 12y ago
      Sure. I write software that automates things, specifically natural language processing.
      - jeffwass 12y ago
        So in other words - party tricks :-)
Gustomaximus 12y ago
> you realise that at least half the taxi drivers are taking the piss This is really not the case with my London cab experience. These guys are super professional. In many other cities I've found cabs taking the scenic route but never with black cabs. I feel your 'half' claim extremely inflated off probably what was very few bad experiences.

jedc 12y ago

It's not completely replaceable by technology. Once I had gotten a text from my wife as to where to meet her for dinner with friends. She didn't know the restaurant name, and had gotten the street name wrong. I just read the text to my London black cab driver, he asked me: "Did you mean XXX restaurant on [correct street name]?" (Note: there were multiple restaurants on the street). And sure enough, he was 100% correct. That's the day I learned to really respect drivers with The Knowledge.

custardcream 12y ago
That's probably not "The Knowledge"; that's just some local experience and the fact that it's a high probability someone is going from that precise restaurant quite often. I myself have drunkenly hailed many a taxi outside dodgy restaurants in London. Unlicensed minicabs are pretty good at that too. Conversely, got a taxi from Angel to Leyton and the idiot went via Poplar and the A13 and the journey cost me £55 for a £30 journey.
- jedc 12y ago
  Maybe I wasn't clear... I was in a couple miles away at home and told this driver the wrong street (and no restaurant name) and he got me where I needed to go. You might put it down to "local experience" but I think it's better attributed to the knowledge; there's no way a minicab driver would have been able to do the same. As you rightly point out, it doesn't mean that drivers won't still take the piss, but it definitely limits it. (Particularly when I compare it to virtually any other large city I've traveled to.)
- kitd 12y ago
  Read the article. Updating the Knowledge is exactly what they do when businesses open and close.
- rurounijones 12y ago
  The knowledge is not only the streets, they also have to memorise "points of interest" which includes things like pubs and restaurants.
  - custardcream 12y ago
    But that's illogical. If you know the bar and restaurant scene in London, it's very volatile. Restaurants and bars change names at an incredible rate. "The knowledge" will have expired by the time you've learned it.
    - jedc 12y ago
      You must not have read the article. There's an expectation that drivers keep their knowledge current. Certainly the examiners keep their knowledge current and test based on that.
      - custardcream 12y ago
        I did. I really don't think you understand the scale of the problem.
        AmirS2 12y ago
        It's certainly a large scale problem, but a smaller problem than learning all the points of interest in the first place ... no one is saying it's easy ...
        deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]

jeffwass 12y ago

Wow, you're really calling a course of study that usually takes 3-4 years to complete a "party trick" because it's replaceable by technology? By that reasoning, isn't any job any of us have on this forum also replaceable by sufficient technology? Anyway, back on topic, "the knowledge" also covers alternative routes for road closures. I've usually been pretty impressed by black cabs. They know obscure little streets on the opposite side of town. Rarely have to give instructions. Compared to NYC where cabbies ask me how to get somewhere.

syllogism 12y ago
> Wow, you're really calling a course of study that usually takes 3-4 years to complete a "party trick" because it's replaceable by technology? Yes of course!! Some other party tricks include reciting hours of lyric poetry from memory, adding large numbers in your head quickly, etc. You're talking like the world is fair or something. There's not necessarily an equivalence between effort expended and value created.
- jeffwass 12y ago
  Are there any skills you have, degrees you've completed,or knowledge you possess that you wouldn't also consider a party trick?
  - syllogism 12y ago
    Sure. I write software that automates things, specifically natural language processing.
    - jeffwass 12y ago
      So in other words - party tricks :-)

Gustomaximus 12y ago

> you realise that at least half the taxi drivers are taking the piss This is really not the case with my London cab experience. These guys are super professional. In many other cities I've found cabs taking the scenic route but never with black cabs. I feel your 'half' claim extremely inflated off probably what was very few bad experiences.