Comment by carlosjobim
9 months ago
Uber could sell their own devices to users and drivers. The app is _that_ useful for millions (billions?) of people, that people would buy it. People used to buy separate GPS devices, so it's not something out of the ordinary.
Spotify tried this, did not go well for them. Amazon and Meta learned the same many years ago
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.
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...
How is it «a completely different way of transport» when taxis existed for decades already ?
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