Social Bikes inks deal with AT&T to stalk pedal-pushers AT&T will be providing connectivity to push bikes from Social Bikes, enabling bike-share schemes to operate without dedicated big racks by tracking every mile peddled. Despite failing as a Kickstarter project, and only finishing the prototype bike four months ago, Social Bicycles (or SoBi as they prefer to be called, though …
That oughta be a warning right there. All those people saw how the scheme was going to work, and thought, "well, hell, man, what do I do if I don't have a smartphone? What good does this do me?"
...I suppose it'll bring Apple owners into the real world with the rest of us...
Seriously; all it seems to do is make things easier for the outfit running the bikeshare scheme, and lock out all the non-smartphone users who might, at some point, want to rent a bicycle just to get someplace close by in a hurry.
I wouldn't be seen dead on a bike like that, not that I'm a bike snob...
Here in Washington DC we have a fairly popular bikeshare system running which uses specialized racks with meters on them -- and the dorkiest, butt-ugliest goddamn' electric-red bikes you've ever seen. They're like big red warning signs flashing the message CAUTION: CLUELESS TOURIST RIDING.
(One of the funniest recent crime stories in the news here -- I wouldn't have laughed except that the victim was relatively unharmed -- was about someone in a nearby neighborhood who was mugged for her purse and iPhone, and the mugger escaped on a DC Bikeshare bike. ...I dunno, man, just something about the image of a devious mugger stalking his victim, striking, and then making his desperate getaway on one of those friggin' tacky candy-apple red rental bikes...)
If that app had a button "I'm here, I wanted a bike but there wasn't one", it would give them more raw data for their redistribution efforts. Similarly, if they haven't already implemented it, ways of reporting mechanical issues through the app, and perhaps ways of rewarding casual repairs. Hmm, maybe materials (patches, glue, spanner-onna-chain can be dispensed/stored at the bike station?
At my uni the Communist Society started a scheme of leaving white-painted bikes around for common use. They were soon useless with chains-off, flat tyres, buckled wheels, vandalism and eventually theft (I suppose for spare parts).
A bike is a personal thing. Maybe OK for this demo riding at a sedate 8mph, but I want my bike to fit me and I would consider it dangerous if it did not. I have never tried anyone elses bike without finding that the brakes were not right, or the gearchanger badly adjusted, or the handlebars not straight. That was for someone else's personal bike - so what hope for a communal, unloved bike?
This is without even considering the small matter of riding position - saddle and handlebar height. Funny how the saddle happened to be the right height for this guy already.
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