I really don't have any faith in google or Eric Schmidt in creating something meaningful and lasting. Since maps.google.com was released all they have done is create and remove services I like to use or leave ones I don't care about using. I don't want to be a customer with a company that is so bipolar in how they treat their customers. Google Reader: one day useful customer; next day literally I was called a thief for rebuffing google in an online community for shutting down a service they offered to begin with ... that they sold as a long term memory hole for my browsing habits. Why would I ever get in a metal box that Google could lock me in? They would force me to go down certain paths past businesses, billboards and parking lots that paid Google for my route to go by there "on the way". I mean really ... it is that hard to believe that Google wouldn't "let you ride free" if you take a longer, ad-laden route? And I'm sure they would require you to allow them to shoot laser ads into your retinas during the trip and force audio because ... You Don't Have To Walk.
I've also noticed that google seems to be terrible about investing. This article is an example, but the whole thing with developing glass has been terrible, and they seem to start more apps than they ever finish... I think that google is a cool company that does cool things, but as a whole I don't trust them-.
I just found this from the WSJ, claiming that Bloomberg's article is way overblown and that 'a Google engineer has been testing an internal app that helps Google employees carpool to work, and the app isn’t associated with the company’s driverless cars program.'
Huh. Well, I guess there's no way to know what is really going on. It's not as if Google is going to stay away on Uber's account. I suppose it comes down to whether or not Google feels that it is worthwhile. A carpool app could quickly become an Uber competitor.
I was just about to post this! I've seen some people in the comments on Hacker News suggest OpenStreetMaps or TIGER data as an alternative for Uber. While they're good for mapping purposes, they falls short to use just those sources as a foundation to a self-driving car, as you can see here.Uber would be crippled if it lost access to the industry-leading mapping application, and alternatives— such as AOL's MapQuest, Apple Maps, and a host of regional players—are widely seen as inferior.
Agreed. Yet, I think Google's advantages extend far beyond that. Not only is the problem of the type that Google does very well (information and logistics), but they have an ability to monetize the information in a way that Uber does not. Google can even run it at a loss for an extended period of time just to cripple Uber. My prediction is that this is going to force Uber to go public ahead of schedule.
I watched a Google exec at a meeting once say "people are always mystified by Google but our basic business model is to find a market segment with excess profit and then eliminate all competition by operating at break-even." That's what's going to happen here: Google has figured out that there's no particular reason why someone else should profit from you sharing your car with another person. They'll do to Uber what they did to Groupon: acknowledge that the company operates as an artificial barrier between consumers and vendors and nuke the business from orbit. The fact that Uber created the market segment a few short years ago really doesn't matter to them.
Isn't that Amazon's basic business model as well?I watched a Google exec at a meeting once say "people are always mystified by Google but our basic business model is to find a market segment with excess profit and then eliminate all competition by operating at break-even."