
Uber and Cheezburger will deliver you 15 minutes of kitten playtime for $20 - natasham25
http://blog.uber.com/ICanHasUberKITTENS
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bfe
BTW I presume Uber implemented this in LOLCODE?

HAI

CAN HAZ UBERDEPLOY?

VISIBLE "O HAI! WILL U HAZ UBERKITTY?"

LOL VAR R USERSEZ

IM IN YR LOOP

    
    
        GIMMEH USERSEZ
    
    	IZ USERSEZ LIEK "KITTENS!"?
    
            YARLY
    
                VISIBLE "KITTYZ IN YR LAP!"
    
    	    UBERDEPLOY
    
    	    KTHX
    
            NOWAI
    
                VISIBLE "CAN U HAZ KITTYZ?"
    
    	    KTHX
    
    	KTHX
    

KTHXBYE

~~~
deletes
I'm so going to learn this.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOLCODE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOLCODE)

~~~
AnkhMorporkian
Please don't, the LOLCODE market is competitive enough already.

------
PeterisP
This does feel a bit weird - short-term rental of petting animals? I'm worried
about mishandling, animal cruelty and the whole concept - pets form an
attachment with you, doing it as a short-term rental isn't an acceptable way
of building a relationship...

~~~
swalsh
I had this idea a few years ago. Before my wife and I moved to a place that
allowed animals, I used to wish there was a way I could rent a dog while at
the beach.

~~~
sharkweek
The shelter I used to volunteer at had a program where you could take the dogs
off site for the day -- it was the best thing ever for the dog as it got a day
out in the world as opposed to in a kennel.

It never ceased to amaze me how quickly they would get adopted after an off-
site day; seemed to just hit a reset button on their stress levels.

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nutjob123
This is kitten prostitution

~~~
mcantelon
Pretty much. I went to one of those places in Tokyo, years ago, where you pay
to pet cats and it was a depressing place. There were cats who were into it,
but there were cats who clearly didn't want to be there (and some who'd been
confined to cages that looked like little human apartments and were pacing
constantly inside them).

~~~
chrismonsanto
I've been to a cat cafe in Tokyo, and I don't remember seeing any cats in
cages. I do agree that it was a depressing place though, none of the cats were
interested in interacting with the humans.

The place still seemed popular. I don't know why. The one stray cat I found
during my stay in Tokyo was much more friendly than any of the cats in the
cafe.

~~~
GuiA
> The place still seemed popular. I don't know why.

Isn't it because Japanese people love animals, but with the sizes of
apartments in Tokyo it's pretty much impossible to have one of your own?

------
natural219
[http://www.puppycopter.com/](http://www.puppycopter.com/)

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andrewryno
We just had the kittens at our office (they just left). They have 3 cars doing
it, and we were only the second company to get that car.

One of them really liked me (Artemis). :)

------
prezjordan
I know it's fun, but I honestly think they're testing the waters with this
sort of thing - same goes with the "Call an Ice Cream Truck" campaign from
this summer.

Uber = On-Demand... anything?

~~~
mason55
_> Uber = On-Demand... anything?_

Yes, Uber has said in their interviews (or maybe it was pg talking about
them?) that once they have the infrastructure set up to deliver a car anywhere
they can branch out into on demand delivery of anything.

~~~
fudged71
It was soon after that Google invested $200M+.

I believe that Google's driverless cars have a bigger financial gain by
delivering goods rather than people. We all think they're doing the automated
taxi thing, but I think that's just to make the general public comfortable
with driverless cars being on the roads.

~~~
aetherson
It's a dessert topping! It's a floor wax! It's both!

Either a car is safe to drive on regular streets without human supervision or
it isn't. It doesn't matter what's inside.

You could probably imagine a scenario in which the cost of the self-driving
kit (not the software, but things like "a LIDAR array") was something like
$100,000. In which case maybe most private individuals are priced out of the
market, but some corporations are like, "This is still cheaper than paying for
drivers." But I don't really see why that wouldn't apply to taxis as well as
kitten-delivery. And in any case, it's hard to imagine why the cost of an
automation kit would not drop in time.

So I don't think there are too many plausible scenarios in which it is
persistently the case that automated cars only carry non-human cargo.

------
jlees
This is genius marketing. I've already seen a bunch of friends go nuts over
the idea and I hope those kittens find great homes through the initiative!

------
lucidrains
"Sorry, all Kittens are currently being snuggled. Please try again soon!" :(

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vinceguidry
This seems incredibly underpriced. Make it $50 and target office parties, add
another $50-100 for catered cupcakes and they'd make a ton of money for
shelters.

~~~
pmjordan
Kittens at office parties seems cruel. Cats can't stand crowds of people and
will try to hide, not want to play.

~~~
vinceguidry
I think it's learned. No kitten I've ever met shied away from people.

------
bayesianhorse
It does look ok. Depending on the age of the kittens it would be nice to tag
the mother along, but otherwise 15 minutes shouldn't harm anyone.

This kind of business, when not tied to an ethically operated shelter, has a
lot of abusive potential, of course.

------
sjmulder
My girlfriend is a big fan of both kittens and cupcakes. This would be perfect
for her, too bad it’s not in Amsterdam.

Over the summer Uber had some cool stuff here. You could hire a boat with
friends, and the ice cream truck of course.

------
blhack
Now do it with puppies!

~~~
ISL
"National Dog Day" appears to be August 26.

Of course, every day is a good dog day. Perhaps Uber will consider doing
something like this quarterly.

------
cupcake-unicorn
Has anyone done this yet? Or too early to get the kitty van? I see the
"Kittens!" option in Uber but don't see the cat icon.

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rsfinn
All right, that does it.

If I see ONE MORE CAT on the Internet, I'm leaving.

I mean it. Don't push me.

Edit: Oh, they're adoptable? Well, all right then; I'm for that.

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tehwalrus
The internet is leaking again...

Seriously, this is a great way to get some kittens adopted from shelters. I am
in the UK, and very jealous.

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wehadfun
This seems like something that would come out at the beginning of April

------
madcaptenor
In the SF financial district; I could not get a kitten.

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msane
This is completely, absolutely brilliant.

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gucc1
What does this have to do with HN?

~~~
jrockway
Uber is a company from the San Francisco Bay Area, and HN is a site about
companies from the San Francisco Bay Area.

~~~
al1x
Uber is a startup, and HN is a site about startups. FTFY.

~~~
fudged71
The internet loves cats. That covers all bases.

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xamdam
Raise demand for young cats, surely it will not impact more young cats being
produced (and killed when they get older). Want a pet? Get and keep one.

~~~
wiredfool
1 day, they're shelter cats, and the proceeds go to shelters.

