# Google takes on Uber



## UB2 (Aug 25, 2016)

Google resigned from Uber board yesterday leaving way to create their own rideshare using Waze for riders going in the same direction starting in California, no word yet on hiring or pay structure for drivers


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## m1a1mg (Oct 22, 2015)

It's all in the story. Google will use Waze to connect riders going in the same direction. Max rate .54 per mile. GOOGLE TAKES NO FEE.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

The only drivers who will sign on to this are commuters.


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## njn (Jan 23, 2016)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-takes-on-uber-with-new-ride-share-service-1472584235
http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-takes-on-uber-with-new-ride-share-service-1472584235
54¢/mile to avoid taxes. It looks like they will not provide insurance for this commercial enterprise.


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## The Mollusk (Feb 13, 2016)

Hahah

My god. Being bad never felt this good.


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## m1a1mg (Oct 22, 2015)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> The only drivers who will sign on to this are commuters.


If it takes riders away, it will have an effect. Uber/Lyft/taxis.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

from PANDO...
https://pando.com/2016/08/31/google...oks/aba0a058b3a54c23bd0368a459089debe89f0553/

Earlier this week, I was gloating about how right we tend to be on Uber. Well, I didn't see this one coming: Google isn't waiting for self-driving cars. It's going to start competing with Uber _now_.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google has leveraged Waze to come at the market a different way. It isn't wasting time with black cars or networks of professional drivers. It's learned from watching Uber and Lyft for the last seven years or so. Instead, it's starting where Lyft and Uber see the most growth potential now: Highly efficient carpools where the drivers' fees aren't supposed to be their livelihood. They are tantamount to "gas money."

According to the Journal, Waze has already successfully piloted this in its home country of Israel. It's in a very limited test now, due to be fully released in San Francisco in the fall.

There are a few interesting things about the approach, other than the fact that it both doesn't wait for self-driving cars to start building a user base but also manages to avoid hassles with professional drivers. The service is aimed at people who are already going somewhere simply picking up carpool-mates-- which is close to the original Zimrides business model. (One red flag: It doesn't vet anyone relying on "reviews" instead. Come on Google, you can do better than that...)

It's interesting that Google is leveraging a trusted mapping product that nearly every Lyft driver I've ever ridden with already uses and one that already has an sizable active user base of some 65 million. That means, Google isn't starting from scratch as some people had speculated. If Google became a remotely sizable competitor that seemingly sky-high price near $1 billion to buy Waze could look as transformative as YouTube or Android.

The more interesting-- but less surprising bit-- is that Google isn't taking a fee. This is what we've been saying about how the ridesharing battle would change once Uber wasn't the company with the deepest pockets. Cash has always been Uber's singular advantage. But although Uber can manage to burn well over $1.2 billion in just six months propping up its business, even it can't afford to charge _absolutely nothing_. Unlike Google, it won't have a business.

This comes on the heels of reporting-- first broken by the Information-- that Alphabet's David Drummond has left Uber's board. That's not a huge shock. Google's CEO back when it was called Google, Eric Schmidt, similarly had to leave Apple's board once Google got more serious about competing on smartphones. Jobs change, strategies change, conflicts arise and people leave boards all the time in this world.

Still, it's notable that the most highly valued company in Google Ventures' portfolio is now a fierce competitor. But that's ride-sharing, right? Just last month Didi threw its own consortium of Uber-spoilers under the bus to dramatically change its alliances too. There are more alliances made and broken in global ride sharing than the Big Brother house.

Google needs little from Uber at this point. Google Ventures isn't even a traditional venture firm that relies on top returns to raise its next fund. Uber, meantime, still relies on Google's maps, is behind on cars, and presumably a good number of its users access its app via Android. Just ask Yelp or TripAdvisor if Google has ever used its dominant assets as unfair advantages against competitors.

Meantime, Uber has a new secret weapon as it seeks to solidify its market position amid emerging competitive threats and a big technological inflection point: It's hired yet another person to change its image.

Fortune first reported that Uber has "poached" Target's chief marketing officer Jeff Jones. I put poach in quote marks, because the same article says that Jones approached Uber amid a fleeing of talent from Target.

He's not only getting a new employer but a promotion. He isn't just the head of marketing, he is the President of all ridesharing, or some 99% of Uber's business. That makes him the second highest ranking exec after Kalanick.

It's not common for engineer-obsessed "tech" companies these days to value marketing quite so highly, but Uber is well aware it has a major brand problem. Reminder: Even UN Women backed out of a PR-friendly deal with them because of the backlash. There have been several attempts to reboot Kalanick's image in particular, and when David Plouffe wasn't getting results, he was kicked upstairs for Rachel Whetstone who cleaned house and brought in an entirely new team.

Uber has had a bit of a revolving door when it comes to mid-career management:
_
Uber has had a mixed record hiring mid-career talent.  Microsoft and Google veteran Brent Callinicos had a relatively short tenure as the company's chief financial officer, as did David Plouffe, the former Obama campaign chief who headed Uber's communications and policy initiatives and currently serves as an Uber board member and advisor. Top-level recruits that have stuck include chief technologist Thuan Pham, who joined from VMware ; Joe Sullivan, head of security, who previously was at Facebook; and Rachel Whetstone, who left Google to replace Plouffe.
_​I'd add to the list of those departed, head of HR Renee Atwood who stunned industry watchers this summer when she jumped ship from Uber-- where presumably recruiting should be a breeze-- to join&#8230; Twitter. Where it's anything but. Pando has previously detailed other accounts of female engineers who refuse to join the company, because of its past behavior, in particular its treatment of women.

But that's all fine now, because the number two exec, Jones, is a "storyteller."

While Uber hasn't elucidated exactly what that the new story will be this time, Jones is not a fan of Kalanick's most favored message. Again, from Fortune:

_Kalanick and Jones first met in February at the TED conference in Vancouver, where Jones had requested a meeting to discuss the possibility of becoming an Uber board member. Jones said he responded critically when Kalanick asked his opinion of a keynote speech he had given minutes earlier at the influential conference. "I said, 'It's the first time I've seen you speak live, but I'd give you a B-minus,'" recalled Jones, who told Kalanick he thought Uber should focus more on its positive attributes and less on the evils of regulations, one of Kalanick's signature topics. "I told him, 'Great brands stand for something, not against something. The TED crowd should have heard what's possible with transportation.'"_​
[_ read more..._ available until 9/2 1:20PM est]


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## dnlbaboof (Nov 13, 2015)

this is awful if waze is going to charge 54 cents a mile expect more rate cuts


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## The Mollusk (Feb 13, 2016)

Hey, on the bright side Uber has trained a lot of future taxi drivers.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

dnlbaboof said:


> this is awful if waze is going to charge 54 cents a mile expect more rate cuts


I predict not.
After a 1.2 billion 6 month loss, Uber will not do further rate cuts.
That would be dumber than dumb.


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## ginseng41 (Nov 30, 2014)

When has uber ever done anything smart?


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## Taxi Driver in Arizona (Mar 18, 2015)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> I predict not.
> After a 1.2 billion 6 month loss, Uber will not do further rate cuts.
> That would be dumber than dumb.


Dumber than dumb describes Uber management to a tee.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

Taxi Driver in Arizona said:


> Dumber than dumb describes Uber management to a tee.


I keep thinking, "these guys can't get any dumber".

And then they do!


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## Elephant (Aug 29, 2016)

What about background check?


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## run26912 (Sep 23, 2015)

Elephant said:


> What about background check?


Exactly. Any serial killer, rapist and criminal can decide to carpool their victims thru Waze. Nice!

BONG!!!


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## Karl Marx (May 17, 2016)

Elephant said:


> What about background check?


Robots don't need background checks.


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## Exclusif (Sep 28, 2015)

There's a similar service in Vancouver called Spare Ride. For 20km ride you can make $5 "gas money" so this is no were close to killing uber.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

m1a1mg said:


> If it takes riders away, it will have an effect. Uber/Lyft/taxis.


It won't have ANY effect unless they PAY THE DRIVER MORE THAN $1.00 A MILE !


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## KMANDERSON (Jul 19, 2015)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> The only drivers who will sign on to this are commuters.


You know there going to be some Uber drivers doing this.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

KMANDERSON said:


> You know there going to be some Uber drivers doing this.


At .54 per mile?
That's thats that's 
Sofa
King
We
Tah
Ted


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

I don't care much for GOOGLE/ D.A.R.P.A.- BIG BROTHER ANYWAY.

An Uber partner & investor.

Remember the limited market facial recognition sign ins ?

Cataloging,profiling,& proving ground for D.A.R.P.A. Data Mining.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> from PANDO...
> https://pando.com/2016/08/31/google...oks/aba0a058b3a54c23bd0368a459089debe89f0553/
> 
> Earlier this week, I was gloating about how right we tend to be on Uber. Well, I didn't see this one coming: Google isn't waiting for self-driving cars. It's going to start competing with Uber _now_.
> ...


This is about more than transportation.
Skin the onion peel the layers,see the players.


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## Allegro Acura (Aug 29, 2016)

The WSJ article sounds ominous: "Google Takes on Uber With New Ride-Share Service." But the reality is less dramatic. Google - one of Uber's early investors - isn't actually launching a full-fledged Uber rival. Not today, at least.

What _is_ happening: *Waze, the crowdsourced mapping and navigation app that Google acquired in 2013, is expanding its ride-sharing pilot in San Francisco, according to the WSJ report*. The service lets drivers pick up passengers who are traveling in the same direction, or are headed to a similar destination, in exchange for payment.

When Waze launched its U.S. pilot in May, it was only available to 25,000 employees of select companies. Now, all Waze users in San Francisco will have access to the service, which Waze has offered in its home market Israel since July 2015.

http://www.recode.net/2016/8/30/12716128/google-carpooling-pilot-ride-sharing-waze-uber


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Allegro Acura said:


> The WSJ article sounds ominous: "Google Takes on Uber With New Ride-Share Service." But the reality is less dramatic. Google - one of Uber's early investors - isn't actually launching a full-fledged Uber rival. Not today, at least.
> 
> What _is_ happening: *Waze, the crowdsourced mapping and navigation app that Google acquired in 2013, is expanding its ride-sharing pilot in San Francisco, according to the WSJ report*. The service lets drivers pick up passengers who are traveling in the same direction, or are headed to a similar destination, in exchange for payment.
> 
> ...


Who cares? There's 2,000,000 drivers worldwide already in the rideshare business. Google is a little late to the party. What the hell are they going to promise, lower fares? Just wait till McDonalds gets in the business. Now drive thru will come to you. It won't be long before no one will ever have to leave their home. On line schooling, on line dating, on line working, on line eating and not to distant in the future on line death.


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## ubershiza (Jan 19, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> and not to distant in the future on line death.


Attending a funeral without leaving your home, what a great idea!


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## Jermin8r89 (Mar 10, 2016)

These people are just ruining our generation as they gonna make people work for low rates then take away jobs. PAY US UNEMPLOYEMENT


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## Allegro Acura (Aug 29, 2016)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> Who cares? There's 2,000,000 drivers worldwide already in the rideshare business. Google is a little late to the party. What the hell are they going to promise, lower fares? Just wait till McDonalds gets in the business. Now drive thru will come to you. It won't be long before no one will ever have to leave their home. On line schooling, on line dating, on line working, on line eating and not to distant in the future on line death.


"Drive through will come to you" DUDE! I think u got something there! 
Like the neighborhood ice cream truck except it's a Mcdonald roach couch.


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## Jermin8r89 (Mar 10, 2016)

Allegro Acura said:


> "Drive through will come to you" DUDE! I think u got something there!
> Like the neighborhood ice cream truck except it's a Mcdonald roach couch.


Its pretty bad yyou could have a career in bagger at walmart too. Too many people haveing issues with self check outs all i get told is "unexpected item in bagging". Also when it comes to veggies and fruit i go to a person when i got a big carriage too. Noone should worry about getting tooken over. we not there yet drive for foober for for 10 years also they might have u do breeze for tesla car pretty soon for being a babysitter of car and pax. GM is already walking away from selfdriveing vehical (claps) ford is makeing jump for self driveing so im jumping ship and being a GM guy


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Jermin8r89 said:


> These people are just ruining our generation as they gonna make people work for low rates then take away jobs. PAY US UNEMPLOYEMENT


In the TNC business it's pay yourself UNEMPLOYMENT.


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## Allegro Acura (Aug 29, 2016)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> In the TNC business it's pay yourself UNEMPLOYMENT.


i never heard it put that way.............. but ur right and now I'm depressed


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Allegro Acura said:


> i never heard it put that way.............. but ur right and now I'm depressed


Sorry for that brother. But look at the bright side. This weekend we have some killer games on the gridiron. Then in 6 more nights we get to watch 22 men all of whom are making millions of dollars chase a pigskin around. NFL baby!!! Not only does football start, but for us in Phoenix it means NO more 115 degree days.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

njn said:


> http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-takes-on-uber-with-new-ride-share-service-1472584235
> 54¢/mile to avoid taxes. It looks like they will not provide insurance for this commercial enterprise.


a) They will soon be getting a call from the State of California. They have passed rideshare laws and insurance is required.
b)This is just a launching point, I'm sure. Will that many drivers sign up? I think not. This will require them to leave very early for work to accommodate a pick up/drop off and the chump change pay will only be motivating for long rides. Even then, if they are running late, they will say screw it and not turn the app on.
c) And yeah, no screening? That won't fly.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

This sounds more like what the term 'rideshare' actually means; I'm going from point A to point B, let me find someone else going to point B and 'share the ride', not 'let me schlep strangers all over (Uber/Lyft models).


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## Slavic Riga (Jan 12, 2016)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> I predict not.
> After a 1.2 billion 6 month loss, Uber will not do further rate cuts.
> That would be dumber than dumb.


Don't be too sure.
The last rate cuts were due to business being slow in winter months. We are in September & winter is not done yet as per Uber (sarcasm). So, I do expect rate cuts & more people/riders will take rides.


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## Slavic Riga (Jan 12, 2016)

ginseng41 said:


> When has uber ever done anything smart?


Exiting Austin, TX.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> Who cares? There's 2,000,000 drivers worldwide already in the rideshare business. Google is a little late to the party. What the hell are they going to promise, lower fares? Just wait till McDonalds gets in the business. Now drive thru will come to you. It won't be long before no one will ever have to leave their home. On line schooling, on line dating, on line working, on line eating and not to distant in the future on line death.


Taco Bell already delivers in some markets.


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> The only drivers who will sign on to this are commuters.


Yes indeed. But remember that a large portion of the Uber driver base are people who are mostly interested in just finding a way to share commuting expense. This move by Google could significantly reduce the driver ranks of Uber, as those drivers would be busy with Google instead of being available for Uber.


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## UberLaLa (Sep 6, 2015)

Tim In Cleveland said:


> a) They will soon be getting a call from the State of California. They have passed rideshare laws and insurance is required.
> b)This is just a launching point, I'm sure. Will that many drivers sign up? I think not. This will require them to leave very early for work to accommodate a pick up/drop off and the chump change pay will only be motivating for long rides. Even then, if they are running late, they will say screw it and not turn the app on.
> c) And yeah, no screening? That won't fly.


Not laughing at you, but LOLOL! TNC drivers sound like yesterday's Taxi drivers...._This Ridehare thing will never work!_


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

Slavic Riga said:


> Exiting Austin, TX.


Exiting Austin was a very expensive mistake.
I AGREE it was smart, but only towards MY agenda of the Death Of Uber.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

UberLaLa said:


> Not laughing at you, but LOLOL! TNC drivers sound like yesterday's Taxi drivers...._This Ridehare thing will never work!_


This doesn't compare to rideshare...that's available 24/7 to take you anywhere you want to go. Google is only targeting riders and drivers going the same way. I said AS LAUNCHING, it won't be big..and said I'm guessing it's only a LAUNCHING POINT and they will expand service later.


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## Euius (May 19, 2016)

54 cents so it's not a commercial activity, only two rides allowed per day. Not 54 cents per rider, mind you. Total.

How is this an Uber killer? If I was using uber to commute, as a driver, I can't imagine switching to this. I can go to the casual carpool pickup location and get more than 54 cents a mile.

Also it's going to primarily be long distance rides outside the city, into the lower fare areas, that rational uber drivers already prefer to avoid.

It will give me something to tell the rider to use when I refuse their 1am Palo alto ride. Go google!


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## UTX1 (Dec 7, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> Just wait till McDonalds gets in the business. Now drive thru will come to you.
> It won't be long before no one will ever have to leave their home.


Upside is we won't be waiting with pax in a drive thru.
They'll just ping Micky D and Ronald McDonald will show up.
...in a black Tahoe no less...


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

Allegro Acura said:


> "Drive through will come to you" DUDE! I think u got something there!
> Like the neighborhood ice cream truck except it's a Mcdonald roach couch.


You don't need a Roach Coach, all you need is a sophisticated drone to land right in your front yard, school yard or wherever you work,

With your fresh hot off the grill order.


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## Wil_Iam_Fuber'd (Aug 17, 2015)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> At .54 per mile?
> That's thats that's
> Sofa
> King
> ...


Nice Fiddy. Took a minute for my vodka soaked brain pan to process. Still laughing. Phu King Sensors here suck.


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## Scott.Sul (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm more concerned Uber will soon drop the option to use Google Maps or Waze as the default navigation app. That would leave us stuck with Uber navigation.


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## Slavic Riga (Jan 12, 2016)

Scott.Sul said:


> I'm more concerned Uber will soon drop the option to use Google Maps or Waze as the default navigation app. That would leave us stuck with Uber navigation.


Than at least, Uber cannot blame drivers of taking the wrong route. Can mention to riders too, OPEN your Uber app & look at the route navigation.

With autonomous cars there will be no options with routes.


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## SurgeWarrior (Jun 18, 2016)

TwoFiddyMile said:


> I predict not.
> After a 1.2 billion 6 month loss, Uber will not do further rate cuts.
> That would be dumber than dumb.


But but but, you will make more money.."partner"


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## Ca$h4 (Aug 12, 2015)

*Can Uber and Lyft save carpooling?*

*http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/national/can-uber-and-lyft-save-carpooling-20160904*


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## m1a1mg (Oct 22, 2015)

Haha. I love all you business experts questioning the multi-billion dollar conglomerate that is Google. Actual smart people have been questioning Google, and been wrong, for years now. 

In my market, it's college kids riding downtown and then home later. If they can get a ride with a fellow college kid cheaper, as conveniently, and no non-English speaking Taxi Turd, what do you think they will do?


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## CrazyTaxi (Aug 22, 2016)

People hate Uber pool, they will hate this, it isn't a personal car service. Uber is a personal car service for bargain rates. You can get a Lexus, BMW, Cadillac (or the unlucky, Chrysler and Toyota) on Select for 2/3 of a cab price, and it will drive anywhere you want, not just what is convenient for the driver.


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## Karl Marx (May 17, 2016)

ubershiza said:


> Attending a funeral without leaving your home, what a great idea!


My family did that last week, my Aunt died a few weeks back and we live streamed the service from London to Toronto, my father was too ill himself to make the trip over the pond. It was great for the Canadian and American family that couldn't attend to be their virtually.


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## ubershiza (Jan 19, 2015)

Karl Marx said:


> My family did that last week, my Aunt died a few weeks back and we live streamed the service from London to Toronto, my father was too ill himself to make the trip over the pond. It was great for the Canadian and American family that couldn't attend to be their virtually.


Sorry for your loss don't forget to send vertual flowers.


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## Karl Marx (May 17, 2016)

ubershiza said:


> Sorry for your loss don't forget to send vertual flowers.


Apparently this is a business that has more requests than it can handle. Most churches in urban settings have high speed internet.


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## Euius (May 19, 2016)

Scott.Sul said:


> I'm more concerned Uber will soon drop the option to use Google Maps or Waze as the default navigation app. That would leave us stuck with Uber navigation.


Are they going to stop us from using Android as well?

Uber navigation doesn't even _exist_ on Android. They can't force me to use it.



CrazyTaxi said:


> People hate Uber pool, they will hate this, it isn't a personal car service. Uber is a personal car service for bargain rates.


Commuters _don't_ hate UberPool though. Once the product has been in the area for awhile, like it has in SF, people come into it with the proper expectations.

I haven't had a complaint about Pool in weeks, and that was a tourist. I haven't had a local complain in months.



> You can get a Lexus, BMW, Cadillac (or the unlucky, Chrysler and Toyota) on Select for 2/3 of a cab price, and it will drive anywhere you want, not just what is convenient for the driver.


Or you can get UberX for $7 "anywhere in SF". Except that transportation is a commodity, and people using it 5 days a week to and from work would rather pay $2 "anywhere in SF" for Pool. Even high dollar finance and tech workers.


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