Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend

Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by AlexandrB on Monday October 03, 2016 @09:27AM (#12627267)

I'm pretty sure Uber uses Google Maps in for a lot of it's mapping and navigation [1]. I'm not saying Uber adds no value - payment processing isn't easy, but it's not solving any new mapping problems that Google hasn't already solved. Its main innovation has been to ignore existing taxi laws by classifying itself as "ride-sharing".

[1] http://www.zdnet.com/article/uber-to-invest-500m-in-mapping-...

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by hackerboos on Monday October 03, 2016 @09:29AM (#12627279)

I doubt Uber would have gotten started without leaning on Google for both mapping and directions. This benefited them both as Google incorporated Uber back into it's Maps product.

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by the_watcher on Monday October 03, 2016 @01:50PM (#12629657)

Uber initially (and still does) rely Google Maps for a lot, but they have an internal team working on their own mapping, and have spent a lot of money acquiring map-related tech.

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by philjohn on Tuesday October 04, 2016 @05:11AM (#12634223)

Now. But they initially bootstrapped it with Google Maps, which was sensible to do for their initial MVP, which is all an "I could do that in a weekend" project is.

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by BlackjackCF on Monday October 03, 2016 @05:35PM (#12631543)

They also use a home grown solution for routing: https://eng.uber.com/engineering-an-efficient-route/

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by Pyxl101 on Monday October 03, 2016 @03:25PM (#12630507)

Can you provide a source for the claim that Uber violates taxi laws?

As far as I'm aware, Uber doesn't violate taxi laws. Uber started out providing "black car" services which are not classified or regulated as taxis. Never have been, still aren't. Black car services are ones where you schedule a trip in advance, and there's no "hailing on the street". Being able to hail taxis is what makes them taxis and subject to regulation.

A lot of the drivers who first began working for Uber were existing black car drivers, and who operated their own black car business on the side. Many still do. Uber didn't come along and make this existing class of ride service illegal.

The only vehicles subject to taxi regulation are ones that offer rides to people on the street without prior arrangement, as far as I'm aware.

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by nerfhammer on Monday October 03, 2016 @03:34PM (#12630593)

Non-hailed cabs are regulated in many cities as well. E.g. in NYC the TLC regulates black cars as well as yellow cabs.

https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/livery-car-base...

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Re:Why's that company so big? I could do that in a weekend by kingnothing on Monday October 03, 2016 @05:27PM (#12631489)

http://driveubernyc.com/tlc/

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