Irish Taxi Forum
Public Area => Taxi Talk => Topic started by: Conor M on February 22, 2018, 04:40:28 pm
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I'm new to the forum.
Used to just read passively.
I have to ask. What's everyone's thoughts on self-driving taxis. Daimler acquiring a major-stake in Mytaxi and the new CEO is talking about openly with silicon republic https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/mytaxi-ceo-interview (https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/mytaxi-ceo-interview) . Talk of drivers becoming assistants for families and elderly. I know it won't happen any time soon but surely all that data produced on apps through fares that is being used for driverless taxi programs, should belong to the drivers or at least drivers should have a say in how the data is used. Considering the data is made through the drivers labour.
Any thoughts?
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We are in some way the creators of our own demise..signing up/aligning with certain apps,in particular MyTaxi as they have been taken over by Daimler...but in saying that and i'm not saying we're unique but hailing a taxi in Dublin or any of the major towns and cities is...well different...and should be a source of entertainment on Fri/Sat nights if and when driverless taxis arrive.
Welcome btw!!
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After years of denial I've given in to the idea.Doesn't bother me so much anymore.The kids in school are being conditioned to expect the cars to be autonomous very soon.In an ideal world some tech company might buy us out and we retire with a lump sum.I've been told by those in the know that insurance will put the humans off the road as the AI gets perfected.I've been driving in different jobs for over 20 years and I'm 40 now.It actually gets really boring.Hopefully the robot won't get bored so easily.
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There is plenty of talk going around about Mytaxi vs Uber. But they're in bed together on the subjechttp://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/en/instance/ko/Daimler-and-Uber-join-forces-to-bring-more-self-driving-vehicles-on-the-road.xhtml?oid=15453638 . So they compete financially but the data from both apps is still being used to fund the same programs. Surely if and when the time comes the NTA will stop driverless taxis in a similar way that ride-sharing wasn't allowed.
Surely there'll be too much opposition for drivers when the time comes
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As soon as the robots become self aware we'll all be fuked,hopefully i'll be gettin me penis collider sipped on a beach by then!!
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I think they'll find out the hard way that there isn't that much money in the taxi business after the costs of vehicles and maintenance are factored in.Humans work for relatively little money.
There used to be a time when Smartphones seemed like a good idea.I think they cause more problems than they solve.
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MfH has a point - liberalised or unregulated taxi markets don't work. Uber subsidises almost half the fare. Start here for a deeper explanation ( 1 of 4)
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-deliver-part-one-understanding-ubers-bleak-operating-economics.html (https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/can-uber-ever-deliver-part-one-understanding-ubers-bleak-operating-economics.html)
Re self-driving taxis, when I see one being able to cope with Dublin traffic and Dublin cyclists, then I'll start to worry. As I sometimes joke with tourists, the 'rules of the road' are not really rules, they're more like suggestions!
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Those of us that remember using using a map book and looking for lamppost numbers to locate addresses are probably the ones that believe the technological advances we have witnessed will eventually result in cars driving themselves, probably under supervision initially but autonomously in due course.
Motor manufacturers are switching their focus to some extent. All seem to be geared towards a future that will see them primarily selling utilisation of vehicles rather than selling vehicles outright. Daimler, for example, has a wide variety of mobility services e.g. car2go, moovel, mytaxi, BTR, CharterWay, FleetBoard, etc. The challenge for manufacturers probably centres on how to maintain brand distinction. For example, if a consumer hires a Go Car what can they do to make him give a fuck who manufactured the car he’s going to use to get from D to E. To paraphrase mytaxi’s CEO, nobody buying an airline ticket gives a fuck whether they’ll be sitting on an Airbus, a Boing or something else.
As far as generating data goes I wouldn’t be too concerned about motor manufacturers. Google is the king of data. It makes it’s technology available to anyone and everyone free of charge via APIs. It doesn’t do that because it’s an exceedingly generous organisation and it’s no coincidence that it is leading the way as far as development of driverless cars goes. It seems increasingly likely that Google will provide much of the software and real time data that will become standard within autonomous vehicles.
I guess the real question is what can we do to stop progress? The answer is nothing. We need to embrace change and work with firms that are promoting environmentally friendly utilisation of hardware within the consumer transport industry.
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But the data generated by apps must still have value. Even if car manufacturers (daimler) don't lead the way on driverless cars they can still sell the data generated from apps to google. I know a lot of drivers have problems with whistle but imagine in an ideal world every driver used it. Then if and when self driving cars came they could sell the data generated to google or daimler or whoever. Would be nice few €€€ split between all investors.
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mytaxi is built on Google APIs, Google already has all the data it wants from Daimler so it'll not be buying it... same applies to Whistle, Flag and Uber. Uber was the only one that was clever enough to use openstreetmaps initially, prompting Google to invest heavily in the firm.
If you were clever and/or energetic enough you'd get a few drivers together and set up an app with the sole objective of building it up to sell on to a motor manufacturer. It could produce a nice few €€€ for a few drivers but split between thousands it'd be pennies.... and if you were really clever you'd develop it on openstreetmaps.
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Surely there'll be too much opposition for drivers when the time comes
I hope I'm around for those Union meetings.
He'ar lads these bleedin' driverless cars are obeying the rules of the road and they're not raping or murdering any customers. FFS, the cunts don't even overcharge from the airport. Something has to be done. What about all the middle class housewives who only get taxis 'cos they want a good seeing to from a bitta rough? What about the punters that want to buy a bitta gear? etc...
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There's a coincidence... tonights premiere league darts is live from the Mercedes Benz Arena, Berlin!
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Jesus is there anything Daimler don't have a stake in...
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But the data generated by apps must still have value. Even if car manufacturers (daimler) don't lead the way on driverless cars they can still sell the data generated from apps to google. I know a lot of drivers have problems with whistle but imagine in an ideal world every driver used it. Then if and when self driving cars came they could sell the data generated to google or daimler or whoever. Would be nice few €€€ split between all investors.
I agree and it was one of the USP that I advocated with eircab.com (http://eircab.com), (on hold now, Whistle got there first, want to give them a chance as they claim to have same objective). The value of the data owned by a dominant taxi driver app may soften the blow financially at some point in the future if autonomous taxis do takeover.
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Bleeding' Germans, makes you wonder who won the war!
I don't think it has a stake in Waymo yet:
https://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1115393_googles-waymo-approved-to-begin-self-driving-ride-share-across-arizona (https://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1115393_googles-waymo-approved-to-begin-self-driving-ride-share-across-arizona)
Google's Waymo approved to begin self-driving ride-share across Arizona
February 21, 2018
Waymo's driverless ride-sharing service has won a race against Uber in Arizona—and the company did it without a driver at the wheel.
Waymo, Google’s self-driving car division, secured approval from the state of Arizona last month to operate as a Transportation Networking Company (TNC) putting the company in competition with ride-sharing pioneer Uber Technologies. Waymo will now be allowed to start charging for rides rather than offering them for free as test rides as it currently does.
MORE: Waymo, Google settle out of court
It is expected that Waymo’s service will be app-based like Uber and Lyft.
“Waymo's approval for a driverless ride-sharing service is yet another win in a long list for the company. We continue to get closer to autonomy becoming a widespread reality, and there is massive opportunity across the spectrum for companies willing to innovate and push," Akshay Anand, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said in a statement.
Just last week Google and Uber avoided a long trial by settling their bitter trade secret court battle. Google agreed to take an equity stake in Uber worth an estimated $245 million and Uber agreed not to incorporate Waymo’s confidential information into its software or hardware.
In the suit, Waymo alleged that Uber hired an ex-Waymo engineer specifically for what he knows about self-driving car technology. Waymo was most concerned about their light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology that uses a pulsed laser to measure variable distances to the Earth.
Waymo has ordered thousands of Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans to retrofit with its autonomous vehicle technology to test in five states and the company is currently the leader in getting self-driving vehicles on the road. In California, Waymo cars have completed an estimated 325,000 miles of testing on public roads. Its closest competitor, General Motors has completed less than half the testing miles of Google, according to data released by the state.
Industry observers are urging consumers and investors to keep an eye on the various companies vying for dominance in the driverless ride-sharing market. That should be easier now that they won’t have to keep their eyes on the road.
-- by Ruben Porras
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I agree and it was one of the USP that I advocated with eircab.com, (on hold now, Whistle got there first, want to give them a chance as they claim to have same objective). The value of the data owned by a dominant taxi driver app may soften the blow financially at some point in the future if autonomous taxis do takeover.
It'd need to be global and not developed with Google tech. Investing a hedge fund in Google/Waymo might make more sense.
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I agree and it was one of the USP that I advocated with eircab.com, (on hold now, Whistle got there first, want to give them a chance as they claim to have same objective). The value of the data owned by a dominant taxi driver app may soften the blow financially at some point in the future if autonomous taxis do takeover.
It'd need to be global and not developed with Google tech. Investing a hedge fund in Google/Waymo might make more sense.
I agree. eircab.com (http://eircab.com) would have the potential to be global if it is proven here. if eircab developed its own unique platform it could sell/lease it to other driver orgnaisations across the world. Also if members wanted they could plan for the future, decide to generate a profit and invest that in the Google/Waymo hedge fund.
Lots of ways to do it.
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Dont worry about it Connor they will never catch on.Companies will develop them then like Concord they will learn that nobody wants them Daimler built the Vayron which is the best car ever made but too expensive for the mass market,it was just an exercise in proving it could be done and some of the tech will go into the VW Van .All the tec will be developed and we will have automatic breaking and automatic speed restrictions and automatic destination finder and possibly cruise control that encompasses all of the above but that is as far as it will go we will never take the man out of the car just like we will never take the pilot out of the plane and the reason is simple if we do then we actually accept that we are inept and Freud dealt with that subject when he wrote of the Ego .If you want a microcosmic example of this at play just look at the amount of taxi drivers who wont use an app or satnav in the belief that the job can only be done the old way of knowing every street and boreen and local knowledge of where the events are happening ,or go into any Irish kitchen there is a microwave for putting cookbooks or stuff on top of but the dinner is still cooked in the oven .When the Microwave was invented they said it would do away with the oven .
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A microwave is only good for makin popcorn...and that's not a euphemism!!
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I disagree, Hal. The microwave is perfect for softening butter taken straight from the fridge - 5 secs on full power, turn, then another 5 secs = perfectly spreadable. It's also quite good at releasing flavour from mushrooms - if you don't have time to air dry them, slice and nuke on full power with a knob of butter for 45 seconds. To a lesser extent they are handy for reheating dinners - if I'm going to the pub I often make an extra plate for supper and nuke it when I come home full, generally a healthier alternative to buying half the contents of the chipper or Chinese.
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Butter...yuk!!
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Fuck it, I'm gonna nuke myself a bag of popcorn now... haven't done that for ages.
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Driverless cars operated by some sort of radio waves from space .You cant get RTE clear on Dame Street and dont get me started on BBC radio 4
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The day you start on BBC4 is the day I retune my wireless.
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The day you start on BBC4 is the day I retune my wireless.
Are you a 4 listener ?Genders question time can be interesting for the info on Dahlias and early blooming herbaceous border plants .
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Sometimes knock it on when I've students going to Harcourt St so I can explain that they may listen to Twist 103 or whatever they like when they are grown ups with their own motor cars.