
Waymo is readying a ride-hailing service that could directly compete with Uber - jonknee
https://qz.com/1208897/alphabets-waymo-googl-is-readying-a-ride-hailing-service-in-arizona-that-could-directly-compete-with-uber/
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Animats
Google may have a hard time with this. Google has never been good at paid
services which require people on the ground to keep them working. Look at the
Google Fiber debacle. Or the problems of being a small Google advertising
customer. Google just doesn't have a customer service culture.

~~~
justicezyx
> Look at the Google Fiber debacle.

AFAIK, based on public information, Google Fiber is well received by
customers.

~~~
Animats
"Google Fiber division cuts staff by 9%, “pauses” fiber plans in 11 cities"[1]

[1] [https://arstechnica.com/information-
technology/2016/10/googl...](https://arstechnica.com/information-
technology/2016/10/google-fiber-laying-off-9-of-staff-will-pause-plans-
for-10-cities/)

~~~
scarmig
Being well-received by consumers doesn't have much to do with business
success, in the broadband market.

Perhaps it's a matter of low bars, but Google's customer service and general
reception definitely was far superior to, e.g., Comcast's.

The issues Fiber ran into were more about taking on entrenched monopolists,
and not general uptake or customer dissatisfaction.

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euyyn
Is there anyone here from Phoenix, that has tried their app to hail one?

~~~
Z1nfandel
I see them driving all over the place and they put out a signup for beta
testing the app/service, but noone I know has been accepted.

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Overtonwindow
Something I noticed is that all of the Lyft drives I call, have Uber stickers
on their car, and work for both. Will we just see cars someday that are
whichever service you want?

~~~
dschnurr
No – the services will likely own the cars (much like Waymo owns these
chrysler pacificas).

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Fricken
In November Waymo said their robotaxi service would be available to the public
in 'a few months'. Now that a few months have passed, they're saying 'this
year'.

~~~
euyyn
Will still be a few months if it's this year, no?

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whatyoucantsay
Taking money from Google (or Amazon) can be a Faustian bargain. They gain
insight regarding your operations, how much profit there might be in competing
with you... and how to defeat you.

~~~
zpatel
sounds like microsoft of the 1980s and 1990s.

~~~
whatyoucantsay
Yes. Except M$, as it was known, didn't have employees vote brigading
Slashdot.

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pasbesoin
Another Google service devoid of humanity.

God forbid the help page doesn't suffice, when your ride bootloops in the
middle of nowhere or a bad neighborhood.

~~~
monk_e_boy
Don't use it... what is the point of commenting rubbish like this? If you have
concerns / bug reports, fine, but i bet you've never been in a self driving
car.

~~~
pasbesoin
The point is, the one thing they respond to is bad PR -- when it gets bad
enough.

They have the financial resources to do a move into this field -- or most any
field -- right.

Until they actually demonstrate doing so, they deserve the continued
criticism.

Still waiting on my Android updates, so I can turn wifi back on on my 6 month
old phone. And I'd have them, if my year and a bit old Nexus 5x hadn't
bootlooped.

Google Fiber got one town away, and crapped out. Granted, they don't "owe" me
service, in that case. But another venture we started hoping in, effectively
snuffed out.

As for self-driving cars, I spent 3+ months helping someone get back on their
feet, who'd lost their license. Uber were a real "godsend" for her. But at the
same time, I watched Uber breaking regulations and grabbing marketshare by
burning investor dollars, pushing towards an effective monopoly or duopoloy.
The exit strategy for same apparently being to switch to self-driving vehicles
to reduce costs, before their runway ran out. Dumping all their "non-employee"
drivers at that point.

And learning more about how drivers, especially after eating vehicle expenses
and such, weren't actually making that much. And this at a time when,
eventually, "free market" Republicans were pushing to take away the primary
health care option (the ACA) available to those drivers who actually pursued
the work as a full-time job.

And that person whom Uber helped out, turned out to be as big a user as they
are. A rather symbolic synergy, in anecdote.

Meantime, Uber now proposes [yes, that change in verb case is intentional]
that they have an effective monopoly on driverless vehicles in urban areas.

Yeah, so I've been paying _a bit_ of attention to this.

Now, some effective competition would be nice. And my parents are going to
need it, pretty soon.

But they're my parents, and they're going to need more than the typical Google
level of non-support. They already have that with their smartphones.

So, if Google wants to do this, they should... Well, I think it was actually
better when the engineers ran the place. Things would get missed, but once
they were pointed out, the engineers would honestly -- if not always
effectively -- be interested in addressing them. Problem solvers.

Whatever's going on with Google, now, it seems to transcend the "why doesn't
everyone just understand this" mindset.

If you're going to have thousands upon thousands of vehicles interacting with
ordinary people including a lot of seniors who are more or less just "getting
by" with their phones. Well, then, you'd better provide some effective human
oversight and involvement, down to the customer level.

When I call Google Fi, I get actual U.S. based associates who seem, some at
least, relatively smart and engaged. That's a start.

Next up, stand behind your product. Doesn't matter who made it, you're selling
it. And for those pointy-haired bosses: Yes, "goodwill" does have a value --
to accountants, even.

~~~
monk_e_boy
I'm not 100% sure I understand your argument. You've not used it, another
company provide a car service which you kinda like, so projecting that
experience onto a google self driving car which you have never seen .... you
have some objections? You think it'll drive your mom to a bad part of town and
leave her there?

Dude.

You need an outlet, HN isn't a healthy place to dump this stuff. Have you
tried talking to a professional? It may help you.

Good luck, you sound like a nice bloke.

