
A man patented Uber[Taxi] 29 years ago - olitebra
http://www.google.com/patents?id=khoDAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA6&dq=dial+a+ride+problem&hl=en&ei=EvgOTqCCE9HDtAbu7-zMDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
======
adestefan
It doesn't matter since the patent expired in 2001.

~~~
olitebra
What I have tried to say with this post is that it is execution that matters -
maybe this patent had a brilliant idea in it, but it was never implemented.

~~~
jerf
Tech matters too; the necessary IT infrastructure to pull this off was
theoretically technologically feasible, but not economically feasible. You
couldn't have run a profitable service that could have serviced those costs
until you were very, very large already.

------
MarkPNeyer
Uber would not be in violation of this patent. It is based upon the concept of
drivers offering rides, which is not how Uber works.

Disclosure: I am not a Lawyer, I work for Uber, and I have been known to hate
on software patents.

------
Aloisius
I'm shocked, just shocked that at the height of demand-responsive
transportation system research that someone would have patented one!

------
idonthack
Not surprising. It isn't a difficult concept.

