[carlosjobim]

Maybe Spotify didn't put enough effort into it? And besides, listening to music was nothing special, people had portable music players for decades before Spotify. Uber opened up a completely different way of transport. I don't doubt that they would have success with their own device.

Amazon have been extremely successful with their dedicated book reading device, the Kindle. So thank you for that example. That really shows that Uber could have had success with their own device, better than I can argue for it.

[notzane]

Kindle was pre-smartphone popularity (same year as first iPhone) so it had a chance to become established before it was competing directly. Alexa and other smart home devices are better examples now that I think about it more. Also, looks like they already make some hardware for drivers

https://www.uber.com/blog/beacon-improving-pickups-with-bett...

[BlueTemplar]

How is it «a completely different way of transport» when taxis existed for decades already ?

[carlosjobim]

If you used taxis before Uber, you'd know. Taking taxis used to be dreadful, except for in a few cities, because taxi drivers were/are rouges, always looking to scam their customers in any way conceivable. On top of that it was insecure in other ways. In places were they were not scamming their customers, it would be very expensive. The person who has to take a taxi is generally a visitor to a new city, who is not familiar with public transit and doesn't have their own vehicles. Uber has been a blessing for taking a taxi in unfamiliar and unsafe locations.

[sneak]

There are many cases of Uber and Lyft drivers beating or robbing or raping their passengers, including some victims known personally to me. They’re still potentially dangerous, ridesharing apps did not solve this problem.

[carlosjobim]

With that way of arguing, you could argue against living in a house or eating cooked food.

Okay I guess, you win. Collect 500 hackers point from your local YCombinator outlet.