Uber phone

We used UBER all around Guadalajara last night. There was 7 of us so we used the"SUV" option. Never waited longer than 5 minutes or so and everyone was a late model Ford Explorer with professional drivers. I was kind of feeling sorry for the taxi guys cause when we left a restaurant or night club it was UBER after UBER pulling up to pick people up.

Thank you to everyone that answered my question. That's why I like this board. Members of this board are willing to help others!

I have 2 neighbors that drive for a living. One is a taxista whom I've been warning about Uber for over a year and telling him it's going to be the future and he better paint his taxi and join Uber. He smiles and goes grumble grumble.

Was talking to the second one last week and I asked him if he was driving for Uber or not yet and he said no that it wasnt here yet!

Sigh.

I think UBER is a great idea and would like to be able to use it on the few occasions I'd need it: airport transport and such. One problem: first, I'd have to buy a Smartphone. Don't need one for any other reason. Don't like to talk on the phone in the first place, and my dumb phone on the cheapest Amigo plan lives in my car for emergencies. So, it's too bad it only works on Smartphones, or so I believe. If I'm wrong, please correct my error.

You mean your dumb phone lives in your car for car emergencies don't you?
Yeah, it has to be a smart phone because I don't think you can download apps to a dumb phone.
For emergencies, the smart phone is the way to go. All I have to do is say "Hey Siri, phone (name)" and it will connect and I can talk from across my house (because I've, say, fallen off a ladder and broken my hip) to the person called and get help.
Hopefully, your trusted emergency person has keys to your house.
Now, I have to admit that my iPhone 6plus is not the smartest of smart phones because the emergency dial won't work unless I have the charger connected. I believe that is not the case with newer models... nor do I know if Android smart phones have this capability or are, in fact, even smarter.
IF, you get a smart iPhone make sure you do several trial runs before you need it to work. That's how I found out that Siri is a sexist bitch because Dru is only recognized as Drew... and I now have to remember to ask Siri to call Drusilla and not Dru. Sexist and dumb do not belong in a smart phone.
Second reason to own one is so you can use it as a hotspot for your main computer when Telmex internet is out. Or simply answer e-mails etc. all by itself.
Third is its photographic capabilities and ease of sending the pics.
Fourth is for texting
Fifth is for its ability to use the uber app or WhatsApp (which most Doctors use)

Sixth is WAZE and is indispensable for driving anywhere in Mexico. Like a couple of weeks ago, two huge boulders, about the size of two small straight trucks coming down on the new cuota between Compostela and Jala, blocking the entire roadway. The machines and confusion had the cuota out of service for hours.  Or 5 or 6 accidents on the Chapala highway between Alamo and Dalilas last week slowing traffic to a "slow crawl", if and when it moved.

You are correct about what Doctors use (WhatsApp) as from personal experience of an emergency hemorrhaging situation in Chapala having photos sent immediately to Dr. in GDL and having surgeons and hospital standing by at the ready when patient arrived, knowing what to expect and what to do.  Time was at the essence.

I have too admit I feel a bit guilty. One driver has been taking me to and from the airport for years. But how can I keep doing that for P$600 when I can pay P$200??

Well $600p was way too much anyhow.........

Thanks, Slainte, I downloaded WAZE, looks very useful! All the docs I know still use Telcel texting too.

So. If one were to have a cellphone, smart or dumb, and just keep it in the glove box for emergencies isn't it likely the battery will be dead or one would be out of credit when one needed it the most?

Trailrunner wrote:Thanks, Slainte, I downloaded WAZE, looks very useful! All the docs I know still use Telcel texting too.

So. If one were to have a cellphone, smart or dumb, and just keep it in the glove box for emergencies isn't it likely the battery will be dead or one would be out of credit when one needed it the most?

I find the question surprising, but here you go:  there's a little device for one's dumbphone called a "charger" which is plugged into a receptacle in the vehicle and to the dumbphone and which charges it automatically when the vehicle is in operation.  That way, it's there, ready, willing and able when it's needed most.  It's on the Amigo plan which requires 50 pesos a month to keep credited.  At present, it has an accumulated credit of over 2,500 minutes.
I'd gladly transfer some of those excess minutes to someone else, but all my friends have smart phones and other plans.

Remember that Waze depends on many users sharing, and in Mexico, especially outside of major cities, there are not always enough for it to be helpful. In Mexico, I find Google maps better.

Canada_Mike wrote:Remember that Waze depends on many users sharing, and in Mexico, especially outside of major cities, there are not always enough for it to be helpful. In Mexico, I find Google maps better.

Maps, yes......traffic conditions, no.
WAZE is best in metropolitan areas, cuotas, and major highways, but that is where most traffic tieups occur.
Not good in rural areas or roads like to Yerbabuena. Colima, below the crater of the volcan.
Los topes, baches, y flujos de lava, no se reportan.