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Comment by skny | Hacker News Reader

Your naïveté and misinformed idealism are quite amusing. Uber had to solve huge problems in realtime marketplace management, mapping, transport economics, financial systems, safety and fraud prevention to make the magical experience of pressing a button and getting a ride possible anywhere in the world.

Don't assume you have the answers that a twenty thousand organization couldn't figure out.

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But their competitors like Bolt have figured it out and can do it cheaper.

They won't survive this pandemic..

"anywhere in the world" being the challenging part. If you're think about it from the perspective of a local taxi company, sure, it doesn't make sense. If you're a global service then it's probably different.

There's no such thing as a "global" taxi service. All cabs are local.

The only people who care about being able to use the same app in Bangalore that they do in Palo Alto are Uber investors and a tiny handful of globetrotting Davosians too lazy to install a new app or send an SMS.

Yes but there are plenty of people interested in having the same service in both Bangalore, Bombay and Ahmadabad, all three cities are quite far but people (including me) regularly travel between them. The local laws are completely different, but I don't have to worry about it. I know uber has figured out the cheapest fare, most convenient route from traffic conditions and the safest driver. If you think its a trivial thing or its somehow not needed then you are kidding yourself.

Also one thing I find is that taxis can be pretty dodgy depending on where you are. They're OK in my neck of the woods, but I've had some overseas that made me uncomfortable. I'd rather go with Uber.

Agreed. I do the same circuit (AMD/BOM/BLR) on a regular (read almost monthly) basis, and the ability to stick with ola or uber is a blessing that eliminates so much friction when I'm travelling!

I've never heard of "Ola" so it sounds to me like you're agreeing that a sub-global cab company in fact serves you fine.

Ola operates in 250 cities, that is pretty global I would say. Also it is the second choice for everyone I know and it is reflected in the fact that it operates in only 58 cities in India and still commands over 50% of the total market share.

edit: removed the royal we

The cabs themselves might be local cars driven by local people but in this instance the rides are being requested and serviced by the same infrastructure globally. That's a taxi company that has operations globally. The customers only travel locally but the company isn't limited to one geographic region.

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