I think the bigger lesson from what you say isn't so much about Waymo or this topic generally but to always remember that forums like HN are not reliable reporters of reality: they can only give you an indication of who was moved to say something and an indication of what they want you to believe... true or not.

I'm sure you were already aware of that, but its easy to forget that and think you're dealing with something more real.

Last week there were two separate posts, one said "AI is not a tool" and the other one said "AI is a tool." Even though that logically covers all possibilities, somehow the vast majority of comments in both were negative or contradicting. My takeaway is that comments aren't a very representative sampling of how people actually feel.

It's not just you. My family gets around on foot, bike and transit, but occasionally we find the most practical way to get somewhere we want to go is by car. Having more options to get a ride is very welcome.

From the viewpoint of a pedestrian, having more "drivers" that don't get distracted on their phone sounds blissful.

There are real concerns about the additional pro-car lobbying we will likely experience, as Waymo will discourage people directly and indirectly from taking transit and cycle, but I hope we can coexist.

anecdotal but waymo was flawless. zenlike music. safe driving. Vs recent uber getting a lot of invasive personal questions from drivers, weird smells, only reason chose is it was half of waymos cost. Even at double the cost might just chose waymo next time.

Waymo is an unbelievably fantastic product IMO.

People on forums will complain about everything!

I learn this each time Apple releases a product. New iPhones could be $500, 10x the speed, half the weight and full week battery life and a fringe loud group will post and upvote some dumb complaint.

I've been using it for a long while in SF. I love it. Never had a problem.

Was excited to take a Waymo, loved the entire experience, would extra love it when they reenable highway usage in LA.

I use Waymo as my primary transport whenever I'm in SF and have yet to have a single bad experience.

Same here. Waymos have been cheaper and safer than Ubers and Lyfts for me here in SF.

i had a funny first experience where the lidar got super lost on a bush, but it did a uie around the block and pulled in from the other side, and from there the experimence was that it was the best driver ive ever seen

Same, used them exclusively last time I was in SF and it was absolutely perfect.

I used it in Atlanta, it was great. HN people hate everything.

Remember that happy people don't come whine on the internet.

And HN has become a very negative hole by itself, rewarding complainers and pushing people who don't complain away (positive posts or ones that push back on needless negativity get downvoted a lot these days).