Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in San Francisco

Re:Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in S... by beambot on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @10:05AM (#13176419)

Or... they're trying to learn the nuances of operating with and around real customers for their actual application.

Too many tech companies (and esp. robotics ones) do their development and testing under limited conditions, and then they're blindsided by real-world realities.

Getting contact with customers early is key. It's like the old military adage: No battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy. In this case, the "enemy" is the real world.

Kudos to Uber for getting out there and working with customers -- it's much better than Google's autonomous cars, which have driven millions of miles and never had a single paying passenger!

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Re:Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in S... by Fricken on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @10:16AM (#13176518)

Ya, Uber just wants people to think they provide better service at lower prices than their competition; and the tricksters, they're doing it by working to provide better service at lower prices than the competition.

Feeling peckish? Ignore it. It's just the McDonald's corporation trying to raise the value of it's stock.

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Re:Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in S... by ASinclair on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @01:01PM (#13178107)

> Ya, Uber just wants people to think they provide better service at lower prices than their competition; and the tricksters, they're doing it by working to provide better service at lower prices than the competition.

The prices are lower because they're subsidized with invested money and debt.

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Re:Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in S... by beambot on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @02:46PM (#13179049)

> they're subsidized with invested money and debt.

So are public utilities, public resources, and all levels of government (local, state, & federal)...

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Re:Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in S... by cududa on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @04:33PM (#13179851)

Unless the government decides to nationalize Uber, what's your point?

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Re:Uber’s self-driving cars start picking up passengers in S... by beambot on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @07:38PM (#13181216)

That subsidization with invested money and debt is not uncommon, atypical, or untoward. In fact, those same instruments are used by most companies (not just startups) in one form or another. Actually, they're used by almost every entity in our economy, even individuals (ie. credit cards and mortgages). So the GP's point was moot.

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