Linked List: September 24, 2019

Tuesday, 24 September 2019

Lyft App to Include Public Transit, Scooters, and More 

Lyft:

Starting today, when you open your Lyft app, you’ll see all your ride options front and center on your home screen: scooters, bikes, public transit, car rentals, Shared rides, regular rides, big rides, and even more. It’s the first in a series of changes that make it easier for you to choose the right ride for every occasion (and every mood).

Over the past year, we’ve added shared bikes and scooters to the Lyft app in cities across the country. Early user testing shows that the new design has more people scooting, biking, and taking public transit — our greenest ride options, and the ones most likely to help alleviate traffic. This summer, one in eight Lyft rides was a bike or scooter ride in the cities where they’re available.

Including public transit and other options exudes confidence on Lyft’s part. Recommending transportation options that don’t make Lyft a dime also builds trust with users. Smart move.

Nancy Pelosi Announces Formal Impeachment Inquiry of Trump 

Nicholas Fandos, reporting for The New York Times:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House would begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Trump, opening a fresh chapter of confrontation in response to startling allegations that the president sought to enlist a foreign power for his own political gain.

“The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution,” she said after emerging from a meeting of House Democrats in the basement of the Capitol. Mr. Trump, she said, “must be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

The announcement was a stunning development that unfolded after months of caution by House Democrats, who have been divided over using the ultimate remedy to address what they have called flagrant misconduct by the president.

Called it.

Samsung Galaxy Fold, Take Two 

Geoffrey Fowler, writing for The Washington Post:

Creating an OLED screen that can fold and refold hundreds of thousands of times involved technical challenges that boggle the mind. But the question remains: Why is Samsung selling a device that it knows is still so delicate, instead of waiting until it’s worked out how to make it strong? (This isn’t just a Samsung problem; Apple recently introduced a white titanium credit card you can’t keep near leather or denim.)

File this under “False Equivalence”, but Apple brought it upon themselves with that support page for Apple Card care. To be clear, though, Apple never said you “can’t” or even “shouldn’t” keep Apple Card in a leather wallet or denim pockets. All they said is that if you do, the card might pick up stains. As I wrote, Apple’s Apple Card care instructions are for people who obsessively want to keep their card in mint condition — which is not most people. (I’ve had mine in the outside sleeve of a leather wallet for a month now, and it looks like new, and I honestly don’t care if it picks up scratches or stains.)

But Apple’s support document, as written, is easily misinterpreted as suggesting Apple Card is delicate and fragile. And so here we are with The Washington Post’s tech columnist putting it in the same boat as a $2,000 phone from Samsung that you’re warned not to put in the same pocket with loose change or touch the screen with using your fingernails.

Can’t wait for Galaxy Fold drop tests.

Update: Another reason it’s disingenuous to compare the durability of the Galaxy Fold with Apple Card — if your Apple Card does get scratched or stained or otherwise mangled, you can request a replacement (via iMessage — no phone call required) and have a new one shipped overnight, free of charge. Good luck trying that with a scratched or mangled Galaxy Fold.