Comment by dheera | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dheera | Hacker News Reader

Semi-relevant but one thing I've been really wanting is a map directions app that optimizes for wasted time instead of time.

- Taking train for 60 minutes (with a seat): 0 minutes wasted

- Taking train for 20 minutes (without a seat): 20 minutes wasted

- Taking bus for 60 minutes (with a seat): 30 minutes wasted (efficiency of work cut by 50% due to bumpiness, people walking by and smacking my elbow, etc.)

- Taking an Uber for 20 minutes (driver is not chatty): 0 minutes wasted

- Taking an Uber for 30 minutes (driver is chatty): 30 minutes wasted

- Driving for 50 minutes: 60 minutes wasted (+10 minutes for parking)

- Riding bicycle, running, or walking for 40 minutes in a day: 10 minutes wasted (30/40 counts toward required-anyway daily exercise)

The application should factor in the probability of getting a seat on a train or bus, the probability of an Uber driver being chatty based on crowdsourced data, and simply optimize for the lowest mean wasted time for the entire route.

I once took an Uber ride across LA (45+ minutes) circa 2015 wherein the driver, a guy from Syria, gave me a long explanation of the various factions and situations in play in the civil war. It was fascinating and was vastly more interesting than whatever time-waster I had on my phone.

Optimizing everything isn’t the answer to a rich life.

At least for me, "wasted" is a matter of perspective. Personal interactions and experiencing the surrounding world can be valuable — time is what you make of it.

Standing-room-only public transit vehicles are far and away the worst interactions and experiences I encounter on a day-to-day basis.

They were valuable in that they motivated to bike most of the way, and eventually to get promoted to a point where I could move into the city and stop relying on transit. But aversion is probably not what you had in mind.

Me too. I actually enjoy "wasting" time on public transportation some times because I like listening to music and it gives you a lot of time to think uninterrupted. Plus you could always just tell your uber driver that you want to talk but really need to get some work done, they'll understand.

> driver is not chatty: 0 minutes wasted

> driver is chatty: 30 minutes wasted

Not the most social person, eh?

Remember: unless they meet an objective, other people are just _in the way_ of your productivity metrics. (/s)

Not sure I agree 100% with the productive/unproductive value system you're establishing, but I do think it's an interesting idea — how can we weight the various aspects of a trip we value (time spent, comfort, cost, environmental and community impact, etc)? Might be interesting to build a system that lets you specify how much you value each of those, and re-rank transit options accordingly?

That's deeply subjective, to suggest that time is or isn't wasted. We're not machines. That lifehack stuff gives me the creeps (maybe because I have a partly non-US background).

However, I'd love to have train delays be considered. For any of you here, you've seen how serious the deterioration of the system has impacted travel time predictability.

I like this framework, but two thoughts:

1. In some situations, conversation can be interesting and illuminating if you're open to it. I've had some interesting interactions with Uber drivers in particular.

2. In any case above except the chatty Uber driver (where it'd be awkward), podcasts and audiobooks are a great way to make use of the time.

um why is taking the train without a seat wasted time? you can't read standing up?

Can't use the laptop, I guess.

i don't know if this person lives in NYC or commutes by train somewhere else but on a morning train you can't pull your laptop out even if you do have a seat.

How about on commuter rail? In DC, you can use a laptop on the commuter lines from Maryland and Virginia. You certainly cannot use a laptop on Metro, however.

Hardly wasted. When you're travelling you should be relaxing and have some 'me' time, not working.

You don't sound very social.

Usually a need for 'me' time correlates with introversion. Poster sounds like a shy extrovert - someone who enjoys being social but does not particularly like new people.

I didn't see anything in their post that implies they enjoy being social.

I am quite introverted. Chatty Uber drivers just exhaust me. On public transit or non-chatty Ubers, I get that "me" time.

Great idea. I often take a longer route because it's optimized for concentration and comfort.

For East Bay folks, the Alameda/Jack London Square ferry is a perfect example of this tradeoff. 30 minutes for a trip with endpoints similar to West Oakland -> Embarcadero (7 minutes), but in style and comfort rather than an underground sardine can. Even has parking on the Oakland side.

You need to figure out a way to be productive while standing!

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