On Tuesday, 6 October 2015 11:22:55 UTC+2, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
01:47:47 on Tue, 6 Oct 2015, remarked:
On Tuesday, 6 October 2015 09:53:15 UTC+2, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
15:16:31 on Mon, 5 Oct 2015, remarked:
On Monday, 5 October 2015 14:34:22 UTC+2, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at
05:01:26 on Mon, 5 Oct 2015, remarked:
Of course, but you did seem to present Google Maps as a
better answer.
It's an acceptable answer, I'd say.
FSVO...
But it fails and/or misleads, aside from being unavailable at
some times
to some people.
Right, but the context here is arranging a journey by Uber. Under what
circumstances is it possible to order a car from Uber but be unable to
check the route via Apple or Google maps?
When the destination isn't mapped, or is mapped incorrectly.
You can only order an Uber car via the internet. You therefore have
the ability to check this fact on hand right then and there. If the
collected wisdom of the entire internet is unable to allow you to
figure out where you intend to go, then I would suggest you ought to be
reconsidering the wisdom of undertaking the journey until you get some
sort of clarification first.
This is a classic case of "let them eat cake". It's perfectly acceptable
to expect to be driven around an unfamiliar area by someone you are
paying to do it.
This has always been the distinction between a hackney carriage and a
minicab. it's existed for decades.
I'm talking about the very right wing "Devil take the hindmost" approach
to those not kitted out with all the very latest expensive technology.
A smartphone with GPS and access to google maps is not "the very latest expensive technology", it's cheap commodity off the shelf technology that most people already have. You can buy an android handset SIM free for about £100 these days.
It has always been the case that minicab drivers won't be expected to
have the same knowledge of routes and destination as proper taxi
drivers, that's part of the trade-off for the (potentially) lower
prices. In this context, Uber is just another minicab operator. If
you are not comfortable with this level of driver knowledge, take a
"proper" taxi. There is absolutely nothing new here that Uber brings
to the argument.
Getting back to the "Knowledge" thing, it's never been the case that you
needed to point to your destination on a map when instructing a minicab
driver. If it's not possible to describe the destination to them so they
recognise it, they have an A to Z
So your point is you don't have to point out your destination on a map because they have a map (on which you can point out your destination)?
The "private hire" industry (i.e. minicabs) have not had a requirement
for doing "the knowledge" for decades. I recall getting in a minicab
in Croydon over 20 years ago and discovering the driver had no clue
where he was going.
I've been in a Nottingham Hackney that got lost two miles from the
station 
I don't know what standards Nottingham applies to its Hackney drivers,
but potentially that ought to be grounds for a complaint to the
licensing authority.
This was "south of the river" and not in the City. even though only two
miles from the station. I don't know what their rules are for that kind
of potentially out-of-area trip.
At least with Uber you know the driver will have GPS enabled maps
available (that's how they find their customers, after all).
If you can find your destination on a map.
Right, so we're back to the choice of a Hackney where you have
reasonable confidence that the driver knows the area, or a minicab (of
which Uber is a subset) where the driver may not. If you don't know
where you're going, and can't figure it out, that's a pretty good
indicator a minicab driver won't either,
That's nonsense because the minicab is driving around the streets all
day, every day of the week. Of course he'll be more familiar than I am
about where some random destination I've never been before might be
located.
What's your point here? Before you were arguing that minicab drivers might not know where you are going and how terrible that was, and now you are saying that minicab drivers will know where they are going because they drive around the place all the time and get to know the neighbourhood. Well which is it?
in which case you probably ought to be paying the higher price for the
premium service offered by a proper Hackney carriage.
There's nothing wrong, on the face of it, with a minicab company
externalising much of its 'local knowledge' to the passengers, as long
as we understand it won't work for everyone.
A rubicon that was crossed a long time ago by the minicab industry, and
has been greatly alleviated by GPS based navigation methods.
Minicab drivers, especially in the provinces, do often know where places
are "the Hilton somewhere near Stansted Airport", and so on.
A google search provided its location on a map in less than 3 seconds
I deliberate picked an example that even the numptiest minicab driver
should be able to find.
You've been banging on about all these places you might want to go that can't be found on google maps, and then when you give an example you chose one that can be found on google maps in a trifle. So where are all these places people want to go that can't be found on google maps?
And that's before we look at the Digital Divide and possible
disadvantages to people looking
for timely and affordable traditional solutions.
That ship sailed a long time ago. There is pretty much no aspect of
any part of travelling from one place to another in the modern world in
which the most timely and affordable solutions are available without an
internet connection. If this were uk.railway I would mention goats.
That's simply not true. I'm very happy to catch buses without any input
from the Internet - just a timetable and map at the bus stop.
You might be happy to do this, but it is definitely not the most
"timely and affordable" way of doing things.
It's more affordable than buying a smartphone.
So is staying at home. You specifically didn't say "cheapest possible", you chose to argue on a condition, "timely and affordable". Smartphones are not expensive these days and have myriad uses beyond finding public transport.