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Comment by nlh | Hacker News Reader

It’s pretty clear now that Uber’s goal is to own the solution to “I need transportation”, not just be a fancy taxi company. It’s ambitious for sure.

I need transportation:

For 5 minutes, and cheap? Grab an Uber Scooter.

For 30 minutes, with sunshine? Grab an Uber Bike

For 30 minutes, quickly? Grab an UberX/UberPool/UberBlack, etc.

For a weekend? Grab an Uber Rent.

If you frame their goal in these terms, it gives you a pretty good idea what other sort of deals we’ll see coming down the road (boats, aircraft, scooters, etc.)

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Also, Uber Train, Uber Spaceship, Uber Rollerblades ondemand rental, Uber-Nike running shoe sharing, and of course the coveted Uber Slippers for those lazy Sunday afternoon trips to the kitchen...

I am still unsure how I fell about the Uber Sofa for the essential null-travel events.

Yawn, wake me up when UberSPACEHOPPER comes out.

Uber Sofa. Brilliant.

I think the best thing about Uber Sofa is the ability to pay surge prices to get the best spot.

You guys laugh, but an Uber for snatching up a guaranteed last minute seat on demand at any event or queue would be amazing. I’d love it.

I feel Uber is not just about transportation, it’s about private services, to make you feel part of a privileged elite with no time to waste.

I can't wait until I can order a horse/camel via app.

And I'll note that they've already done UberJET as a gimmick a couple of times, and even UberCHOPPER: http://fortune.com/2016/06/17/uber-uberjet-romania/

As interesting and PR-friendly as it is, it seems to add a lot of complexity at a time where Uber is already struggling. My impression is that troubled companies usually benefit from focus on the core.

> It’s pretty clear now that Uber’s goal is to own the solution to “I need transportation”, not just be a fancy taxi company.

No. They have ceded their primary purpose, stake out a land grab for autonomous vehicle customers, and are now chomping whatever table scraps are left over to shore up valuation so the investors can exit without taking a bath.

And for a day of lazily floating down a river, UberTuber.

UberRocket for Mars, UberGalactic for interstellar space travel. All coming by 2020.

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