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In 2015, Uber had a reported profit margin of -143%. Read and laugh http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-deliver-part-one-understanding-ubers-bleak-operating-economics.html
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Dec 16, 2016 15:52
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| # ? May 24, 2024 12:51 |
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I don't think individuals will own driverless cars in the future. Wouldn't you rather keep your garage space open and just press a button to request the nearest available car, and pay per ride? A driverless car sitting in your garage for 95% of its life is a waste.
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Dec 16, 2016 17:37
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Nocheez posted:I don't think individuals will own driverless cars in the future. Wouldn't you rather keep your garage space open and just press a button to request the nearest available car, and pay per ride? A driverless car sitting in your garage for 95% of its life is a waste. Citizen Tayne posted:The year is 2046, because that is thirty years from 2016. I use my mobile app to summon an Uber autonomous cab to take me to work. It arrives with several major body panels missing. The door pops open and I slide into the back seat, careful to avoid the piles of feces and used needles littering the floor. The car shudders off like an old shopping cart, because two of the tires are blown. "This is progress," I think to myself.
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Dec 16, 2016 17:45
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Have you ever taken a cab ride? They are universally filthy and falling apart. I really don't want to climb into a vehicle and discover the previous occupant spilled a coffee all over the seat.
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Dec 16, 2016 17:46
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Nocheez posted:Wouldn't you rather keep your garage space open and just press a button to request the nearest available car, and pay per ride? No. (But I fear you're right)
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Dec 16, 2016 17:47
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I don't even want to think about what people will do to a driverless cab without the inhibition provided by another human being in the car with them.
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Dec 16, 2016 17:49
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It's not that there aren't obstacles, but the cost of a self-driving car is likely to exceed what the average person can afford. Maybe you can get your own, but I'll be just fine with hailing one.Disgruntled Bovine posted:I don't even want to think about what people will do to a driverless cab without the inhibition provided by another human being in the car with them. It's not like there wouldn't be cameras on board pointing at the occupants, and a record of who was using it.
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Dec 16, 2016 17:50
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Nocheez posted:It's not that there aren't obstacles, but the cost of a self-driving car is likely to exceed what the average person can afford. Maybe you can get your own, but I'll be just fine with hailing one. That's what I get at. Yeah, states don't have inspections to keep unsafe vehicles off the roads, but there is something about having an actual human behind the wheel. Having just a computer, no person? Those things are gonna be so locked down with laws and regulations keeping them in top operating condition, that it'll be incredibly pricey. There won't be a used car market, and probably a hard limit of life span on vehicles, before it's mandated to be removed from service and crushed.
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Dec 16, 2016 18:09
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Nocheez posted:It's not like there wouldn't be cameras on board pointing at the occupants, and a record of who was using it. Shame won't stop people from being disgusting animals. They'll even post it online for clicks. *(apologies for giving this guy more traffic, I can't loving stand him) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lItIyxGZUZQ&t=186s
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Dec 16, 2016 18:13
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Having a giant touchscreen to control your car's features is so goddamn stupid and yet morons eat that poo poo up.
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Dec 16, 2016 18:23
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Previa_fun posted:Having a giant touchscreen to control your car's features is so goddamn stupid and yet morons eat that poo poo up. Are you able to do the map scroll and zoom poo poo while the car is in motion? Because if so, jesus christ (unless they're in autopilot I suppose). Man, at least put physical buttons on the outside of the screen to quick access things without having to actually look at the screen and away from the road.
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Dec 16, 2016 18:37
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you can't even change the radio volume without using the touchscreen
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Dec 16, 2016 18:38
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Nocheez posted:I don't think individuals will own driverless cars in the future. Wouldn't you rather keep your garage space open and just press a button to request the nearest available car, and pay per ride? A driverless car sitting in your garage for 95% of its life is a waste. There will certainly be a role for driverless car sharing (particularly in urban areas), but it's not going to displace ownership. Having your own car you can leave stuff in or customize to your own personality is a powerful draw that isn't going away. When car-sharing is perceived as something you do to save money, people will want to own their own cars just to show they can afford it.
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Dec 16, 2016 18:50
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xzzy posted:Have you ever taken a cab ride? They are universally filthy and falling apart. I really don't want to climb into a vehicle and discover the previous occupant spilled a coffee all over the seat. Not in Toronto they're not.
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Dec 16, 2016 19:07
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The only cab ride I've taken in Toronto had the instrument panel lit up like a Christmas tree and the cabbie was forcing the transmission into first for engine braking.
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Dec 16, 2016 19:11
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1500quidporsche posted:The only cab ride I've taken in Toronto had the instrument panel lit up like a Christmas tree and the cabbie was forcing the transmission into first for engine braking. The last time I took a cab, it was a Prius V that had somehow already acquired 487,000 km on the dial and had ABS, TPMS, traction control and CEL lit. Really impressive how much of a beating that poor Toyota could take and still be relatively less rattly than my 320,000 km Subaru.
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Dec 16, 2016 19:27
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Deteriorata posted:There will certainly be a role for driverless car sharing (particularly in urban areas), but it's not going to displace ownership. Having your own car you can leave stuff in or customize to your own personality is a powerful draw that isn't going away. I can see car sharing turning into a manufacturer's subscription service where you pay a monthly fee for a bucket of miles. (maybe "peak miles" + "nights and weekends miles") The price will be just under the cost of financing, insuring & maintaining your own personal vehicle, and people will generally pay this subscription for the rest of their lives. (people won't age out of the system as our driving public This echos the tech world, where I just saw design software I use daily go from a perpetual licenses at $6,000 a pop to subscription-only at $1,400/year. I snuck in juuuust before the change. I'll save $15,000 with my perpetual license, assuming I don't upgrade til 2030.
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Dec 16, 2016 20:08
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Chris Knight posted:Not in Toronto they're not. Canada doesn't count because this is what a coffee spill looks like up there. 
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Dec 16, 2016 20:45
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My last cab ride, I was too drunk to even count the cash I had, so I gave him a handful of random bills and got out of his crown vic with 6 other people, while the sober person has to make sure that the cabbie had been paid enough. Not even people being present, including the driver who disapproves and tries to kick you out of his cab before you offer a ridiculous tip, will stop people from doing dumb poo poo. Putting people in an unmanned car, alone, is like asking to get it stolen. I can just see someone setting up a roadblock and stripping it in the street, at best
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Dec 16, 2016 21:18
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The Door Frame posted:My last cab ride, I was too drunk to even count the cash I had, so I gave him a handful of random bills and got out of his crown vic with 6 other people, while the sober person has to make sure that the cabbie had been paid enough. Not even people being present, including the driver who disapproves and tries to kick you out of his cab before you offer a ridiculous tip, will stop people from doing dumb poo poo. Like all the valuable parts won't have GPS trackers and poo poo.
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Dec 16, 2016 21:20
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Wrar posted:Like all the valuable parts won't have GPS trackers and poo poo. Fat load of good that expensive GPS device will do when confronted by the awesome might of aluminum foil! Faraday cages are comically easy to make, you could even make an entire Faraday chopshop out of a regular garage in an hour or two if you have the materials. Even if they got around the "theft" issue, hacking a system that has to wirelessly transmit that much data won't take long. Even if they need hard connections, a thermal blanket and 2 minutes will let determined thieves access the ECU. I seriously doubt that Uber could make an autonomous car that will stay on the road in city centers for any appreciable amount of time before it goes horribly, horribly wrong
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Dec 16, 2016 21:48
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Deteriorata posted:There will certainly be a role for driverless car sharing (particularly in urban areas), but it's not going to displace ownership. Having your own car you can leave stuff in or customize to your own personality is a powerful draw that isn't going away. Self-ownership definitely isn't going away entirely, but it is reducing. Here in Seattle, the perfect intersection of lovely traffic, eco-obsessed culture, and tech fetishists, car- and ride-sharing programs are hugely popular. Zipcar's been popular here since inception, Car2go was quick to launch here, and BMW's ReachNow launched here first in the US. They're all over, and Uber and Lyft tags seem to be on every third car you see. When the traffic is bad enough, and the parking scarce and expensive enough, amplified by an idea that not owning a car somehow reduces your contribution to greenhouse emissions (even though you just made an Uber drive to you and then drive to your destination, instead of driving from your house to your destination, thus burning more for the same trip) you get a culture that does not put the same status on car ownership. It's more a badge of pride to be car-free than to own a nice vehicle, even if you're lifestyle is still entirely car-dependent.
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Dec 17, 2016 08:26
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xzzy posted:Have you ever taken a cab ride? They are universally filthy and falling apart. I really don't want to climb into a vehicle and discover the previous occupant spilled a coffee all over the seat. I was finishing up some work travel in Savannah last week. Had to get from a hotel near the airport to the airport very early (earlier than the hotel would run their shuttle) so I arranged for a cab ride beforehand. Called, confirmed I needed a cab at the hotel at 4:15 am. At 3:55 am the cabbie calls my hotel phone to inform me that he's at least another half hour out and giving me excuses. When he did finally show up in his lovely, rattling minivan he wouldn't shut up about his prior night's good luck of picking up a fare that booked him for a roundtrip to the strip club for a healthy tip. But then the stripper apparently passed out, the customer was mad, and he didn't get all of his tip. I'm glad I made my flight. loving cabbies.
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Dec 18, 2016 00:32
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Every single time I've been in a cab the driver has either been weird and eager to overshare (these are usually the American dudes), or so busy talking on his phone or radio (the immigrants) that I was never sure he even heard where I was going until I got there.
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Dec 18, 2016 06:09
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I use Lyft on business trips, I've never had an issue. Then again, I'm cool with Thai tuktuks.
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Dec 18, 2016 06:19
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I took a cab in Orlando that was spotless inside and out. I mentioned it to the driver and he used it to launch into a racist tirade about irredeemable qualities of taxi drivers of other ethnicities. Funny how the cleanest cab I've ever been in was also the most disgusting cab ride I've taken.
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Dec 18, 2016 07:07
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ehnus posted:I took a cab in Orlando that was spotless inside and out. I mentioned it to the driver and he used it to launch into a racist tirade about irredeemable qualities of taxi drivers of other ethnicities. EVERYTHING MUST BE NEAT UND TIDY!!!
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Dec 18, 2016 07:39
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Imagined posted:Every single time I've been in a cab the driver has either been weird and eager to overshare (these are usually the American dudes), or so busy talking on his phone or radio (the immigrants) that I was never sure he even heard where I was going until I got there. The only paid rides I've taken have been Uber and Lyft. Most of them have been average people, a couple were really quiet and didn't care to chat. Mr Mercedes S Class wouldn't shut the gently caress up about his Mercedes, or how much time he spends a week detailing it, or how many chicks he's banged in the back of it (so glad I rode in the front, but why is he picking up UberX fares in an S class? That thing probably burned more gas than what he made on that ride). One was a stoner college kid who had good taste in music and suggested several bars and restaurants for me to check out while I was in Austin.
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Dec 18, 2016 08:31
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Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:why is he picking up UberX fares in an S class? What's it called when you're so desperate to appear to be not poor that you have to drive for Uber to pay the car payment you're upside down on because you drive for Uber? I think it's basically that taken to the extreme.
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Dec 18, 2016 08:35
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Probably! Though this was before Uber fisted ALL of their drivers (only most at the time). I think they may force you to take UberX if there's no UberX drivers nearby available too, I'm not entirely sure how that works. It was an 8am ride to pick up my car from the shop, in the suburbs.
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Dec 18, 2016 08:48
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TotalLossBrain posted:I was finishing up some work travel in Savannah last week. Had to get from a hotel near the airport to the airport very early (earlier than the hotel would run their shuttle) so I arranged for a cab ride beforehand. Called, confirmed I needed a cab at the hotel at 4:15 am. I took a cab from the Savannah airport to downtown a few months ago on work travel. The driver was a 4'-something old lady who had the gospel music cranked up all the way and drove like it was the end times. It cost $43-ish. I took Uber back to the airport from downtown. The ride was completely forgettable and cost $18. gently caress cabs. I mean, gently caress Uber and they're awful and have terrible business practices, but cabs are really that bad in most places.
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Dec 18, 2016 16:34
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Uber isn't allowed to pick up fares from Toronto Pearson. A 15 minute cab ride would have cost me 40 dollars. I took the bus instead.
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Dec 18, 2016 17:54
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VacaGrande posted:I took a cab from the Savannah airport to downtown a few months ago on work travel. The driver was a 4'-something old lady who had the gospel music cranked up all the way and drove like it was the end times. It cost $43-ish. I took Uber back to the airport from downtown. The ride was completely forgettable and cost $18. gently caress cabs. I mean, gently caress Uber and they're awful and have terrible business practices, but cabs are really that bad in most places. The reason Uber is so cheap is because their fares only cover something like 40% of their costs. They're losing billions each year. Ride it while it lasts.
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Dec 18, 2016 17:57
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FogHelmut posted:The reason Uber is so cheap is because their fares only cover something like 40% of their costs. They're losing billions each year. Ride it while it lasts. Once they drive traditional taxis out of business, they'll be the new taxis. It'll cost more than the old taxis and the service will be worse, but the drivers will only make half as much. Welcome to the
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Dec 18, 2016 18:10
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Previa_fun posted:What's it called when you're so desperate to appear to be not poor that you have to drive for Uber to pay the car payment you're upside down on because you drive for Uber? I think it's basically that taken to the extreme. When I looked into the criteria for what cars you can use I came to the conclusion that this is their primary business model. No sane person who isn't desperate to make this month's car payment is going to let drunk strangers into the back of his S class.
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Dec 18, 2016 18:18
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Previa_fun posted:What's it called when you're so desperate to appear to be not poor that you have to drive for Uber to pay the car payment you're upside down on because you drive for Uber? I think it's basically that taken to the extreme. I've been picked up in a Tesla S for my Uber X ride. Dude looked pissed off the entire time. Didn't say a word.
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Dec 18, 2016 21:04
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There's a reddit post that gets quoted occasionally from a guy who bought a Model S specifically to drive for Uber, with the idea that cause it's electric and doesn't require gas or oil he would make cash hand over fist. I can't imagine it worked out all that well. IIRC he also had no outdoor electrical plug at his apartment, so he ran an extension cord out of his bedroom window
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Dec 18, 2016 21:26
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Deteriorata posted:Once they drive traditional taxis out of business, they'll be the new taxis. It'll cost more than the old taxis and the service will be worse, but the drivers will only make half as much. this is why i still use taxis
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Dec 18, 2016 23:31
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I've not really looked into the precise mechanisms how Uber works, but does the US not have the equivalent of minicabs here? They're like taxis, but can only be pre-booked. They are not allowed to pick up fairs on the basis of being hailed. So they are in competition with "real" taxis, but the two have coexisted for decades now.
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Dec 18, 2016 23:33
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| # ? May 24, 2024 12:51 |
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InitialDave posted:I've not really looked into the precise mechanisms how Uber works, but does the US not have the equivalent of minicabs here? That's the only version of cabs in most of the US. If I recall correctly, New York City and Las Vegas are the only two cities where you can legally hail a cab. Everywhere else you go to a taxi stand where they sit and wait or call the company for them to send a driver to pick you up.
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Dec 19, 2016 00:09
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