I find the need to take cabs about once or twice a month. I've had a couple not-so-great experiences, but it's generally ok. Certainly nothing I particularly look forward to, though. Last night I splurged and got a ride from Uber, a new towncar service that just launched in Seattle. It ended up being about ten bucks more expensive than a cab, but it was a way better experience. They've done a really nice job of smoothing over a lot of the clunky or awkward aspects of normal car services.

First, I didn't have to call a dispatch, just a one-click "come get me" button on the Android app. I could then see details about the driver that was coming to pick me up. I could also see a map of how far away he was, so I knew right when he'd arrive. He knew my info too, so from the moment I walked out to the car we were on a first-name basis with each other (that's a tiny detail, but it was a nice feeling). The car was really nice and there was free bottled water waiting for us in the back seat. The driver was really friendly and explained to us that once we got to where we were going, we could review the route he took us on to make sure he wasn't trying to boost the fare by driving us the long way. Here's what it looked like:

It was pretty great. The quality of the experience was totally worth the extra cost. Would I use it over a taxi every time? Probably not, but it's nice to have another transportation option for those times when I want to fancy it up a little bit.

Check it out.