Vancouver is home to approximately 600,000 people, thereby making it the most populated city in the province of British Columbia, and the eight largest municipality in the whole of Canada. It also boasts being a portside city having a metropolitan status.[i] But one of the biggest issues with the city is the taxi services it has to offer to its residents and tourists. It is believed that Vancouver has the lowest number of taxis per capita of any other major Canadian city having just one taxi for every 4,000 residents.[ii]

Now, the public transport the city has to offer is phenomenal, almost every part of the city is navigable by either Transit buses or the SkyTrain metro line. But when it comes to hailing cabs, it fails to deliver. Coming from a city where people use more cabs than any other type of public transport, especially through app-based cab services such as Uber and its competitor OlaCabs, it was hard to get used to not being able to hail cabs easily. Hailing cabs in Vancouver is a tedious job, whereas in New Delhi, at a click of a button, I’d be in a cab within minutes of booking one.

Why is there no Uber in Vancouver, still? There is a need for cost efficient cab services in the city, because there is a demand for taxis. Why then? Is it because taxi worker unions and associations put pressure on the government to not let such services take over the industry? The answer is simple. The drivers need to be educated on the concept, business, and revenue models of services like Uber where they’ll be paid fixed salaries depending on the number of rides they hail in a day. Another thing Uber would offer is the flexibility to both the driver and the consumer, on whether they want to take the ride or not. This would also mean that the demand for taxis would reach closer to equilibrium as supply would increase, encouraging more and more people to add on to the service.[iii]

In my opinion, Vancouver should follow suit from almost every major metropolitan city in the world and allow Uber to set up operations in the city, even if it is just a trial run, and see what kind of changes it brings to the setup of transportation in the city of Vancouver, which I believe should hopefully be positive.

[i] “Vancouver.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver>.

[ii] Jordan, David. “Vancouver Has Fewer Taxis Than Any Other Canadian City.” BCBusiness. Canada Wide Media Limited, 03 Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <http://www.bcbusiness.ca/vancouver-has-fewer-taxis-than-any-other-canadian-city>.

[iii] Singh, Ajaydeep. “How Uber Works: Insights into Business & Revenue Model – Juggernaut- Powering On Demand Apps.” Juggernaut Powering On Demand Apps. Juggernaut, 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <http://nextjuggernaut.com/blog/how-uber-works-business-model-revenue-uber-insights/>.

Google unveiled their unique invention, the Google Glass, a pair of spectacles which featured augmented reality for the first time in history of technology, in February 2013. The release managed to create a widespread demand for the product, globally. Everyone wanted their hands on a Google Glass. But just like any other overhyped product, the hype for this product died soon. Security and privacy related issues overpowered the features the Glass had to offer, such as providing a HUD (Heads Up Display), compatibility with smartphones, and a camera which allowed the device to record your life, and share it on various social media platforms.[i]

In an attempt to rebrand and differentiate their company, Snapchat, an extremely popular image sharing and multimedia mobile application recently changed the name of their company to Snap Inc. and as the first step into their differentiation and rebranding process, unveiled an invention perceived to be similar to that of the Google Glass, Snap Inc. Spectacles. The spectacles would allow users to record 10-seconds snippets of video, using a 115-degree lens, and post it on Snapchat.[ii]

But that’s where people are going wrong. The Spectacles offer literally nothing compared to what the Google Glass had to offer in terms of accessibility and features, which is what sets the two apart and makes them incomparable. Yes, they both come under the broad market for wearable technology, but in my opinion are two poles apart in their target market and technology.

The Google Glass was considered to be a flop at the end of the day, and people eventually forgot about it.[iii] It may have been the pricing of the product, or the pressure from consumers and developers towards safety and privacy, which is why I agree that the prices of both products are two poles apart as well, where the Spectacles would be priced at US$130 and above, whereas the Google Glass was priced at well above US$1000, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the two can be compared.

Also, when it comes to the question of whether the Snap Inc. Spectacles would sell or not, I believe a couple of ugly pair of sunglasses which can only record videos for Snapchat would not be a likely investment for me, at least. I’d rather go and buy sunglasses which would serve the purpose of sunglasses, protection from the sun, and allow me to look good.

In the end, I’d like to reiterate the point I tried to put forward; I have reason to believe that the two pieces of wearable technology cannot be compared to each other unless we’re talking about a broader market, and also that Spectacles may or may not be a success. I suppose time will tell!

Sources:

He, Jenny. “Snap Inc. Spectacles vs. Google Glass.” Web log post. Jenny He’s Blog. N.p., 2 Oct. 2016. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/jennyh16/>.

[i] “Google Glass.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass>

[ii] Newton, Casey. “Snapchat Unveils $130 Connected Sunglasses and Rebrands as Snap, Inc.” The Verge. Vox Media, 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/23/13039184/snapchat-spectacles-price-release-date-snap-inc>.

[iii] Ulanoff, Lance. “Google Glass Disappears from Twitter and Facebook.” Mashable. N.p., 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 17 Oct. 2016. <http://mashable.com/2016/01/26/google-glass-social-accounts/#AUZ37zroukq8>.

Tesla Motors, Inc. is an American automotive and energy storage company that designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars, electric vehicle powertrain components, and battery products.[i]

Tesla Motors has, in absolutely no time, gained control of the electric automobile market through its innovation and energy efficient focus. They were the first to introduce the driverless cars technology or Autopilot to the automobile market which created ripples all over the technological world. Consumers found it extremely interesting and the rising demand of Tesla cars has reached levels never experienced before.

In the midst of all of this, The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, visited Tesla’s headquarters on his annual visit to the United States to get a first-hand experience of what Tesla really is up to, by interacting with the CEO, Elon Musk, and also seeing their factories.[ii]

What he saw was that Tesla is trying to create an energy efficient world through researching and creation of sustainable energy sources so that the future generation of humans can live a sustainable life, which is exactly a nation of approximately 1.6 billion people needs.

A few months later, after another official visit from a highly ranked official of The Government of India, the government offered land to Tesla, in India, to come into the country and start producing.[iii]

Now if Tesla were to start producing in India, it would be catering to a whole new mass market for them altogether for which they’d need to evaluate pros and cons for entry such as the cost of producing in the country, how many people they would be catering to, price strategies etc. Although, they’d have first mover advantage over other car manufacturers in India as they’d be the first to introduce such innovative automobiles in the country.

In my opinion though, producing in India and catering to the mass markets of the country would not work well as the conditions of the roads, the corruption in licenses for driving, and the limited space for driving ‘driverless cars’ would limit the firm from selling as much they’d like to and would also only be able to cater to certain segments such as the upper middle classes, and the middle classes, depending on their price strategy.

To conclude, I believe the relationship between Tesla and India could be one that could revolutionize the on-road experience for drivers all around the country and could change the way people drive, along with limit emissions.

[i] “Tesla Motors.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.

[ii] Fehrenbacher, Katie. “Indian Prime Minister Tours Tesla Factory, Talks Batteries & Solar with Elon Musk.” Fortune Indian Prime Minister Tours Tesla Factory Talks Batteries Solar with Elon Musk Comments. Fortune, 26 Sept. 2015. Web. 02 Oct. 2016. <http://fortune.com/2015/09/27/indian-prime-minister-tesla/>.

[iii] Manchanda, Megha. “India Woos Tesla with Land Offer.” India News, Latest News Headlines, BSE Live, NSE Live, Stock Markets Live, Financial News, Business News & Market Analysis on Indian Economy. Business-Standard, 16 July 2016. Web. 02 Oct. 2016. <http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-woos-tesla-with-land-offer-116071600509_1.html>.