261–270 of 424 posts
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Meh in Liverpool, UK our local cab firm Delta had an app out before Uber/Hailo were on the scene. Features were pretty much on par with Uber.
Quite a few of the cab firms did - many used the same app skinned for each taxi co. I forget who made it now.
Sincere question: what protects Uber from competition enough to imply huge profits in the future? Network effects don't seem that strong. People will download an app to save money, and drivers will download an app to make money. It doesn't cause any major inconvenience. In fact, it seems like a market that may approach perfect competition in a matter of years. There are only two companies now because there are only t…
Self driving cars change everything.
If it's the combination, then I still don't quite get it. Wouldn't any good self-driving tech pretty easily adapt to ride hailing?
Let's say it's a best case for Uber: there are only few self-driving techs out there, and Uber is one; and they dominate ride hailing, and start turning a profit. Couldn't another self-driving tech company snap up Lyft and bundle in the ride hailing, too?
Sincere question: what protects Uber from competition enough to imply huge profits in the future? Network effects don't seem that strong. People will download an app to save money, and drivers will download an app to make money. It doesn't cause any major inconvenience. In fact, it seems like a market that may approach perfect competition in a matter of years. There are only two companies now because there are only t…
This makes Uber a risky investment in my opinion. Once Uber decides to make money, the real game will start. You'll see lots of competition and not much appetite for losing money like now.
Driverless cars?! That's going to make barrier to entry even lower but it's science fiction for next decade anyways.
Sincere question: what protects Uber from competition enough to imply huge profits in the future? Network effects don't seem that strong. People will download an app to save money, and drivers will download an app to make money. It doesn't cause any major inconvenience. In fact, it seems like a market that may approach perfect competition in a matter of years. There are only two companies now because there are only t…
One person downloads the app to chat. The other downloads to reply. And here we are. Still using WhatsApp:)
As others point out this isn't necessarily bad, but it does mean that Uber is extremely vulnerable. If we learned anything in the last bubble it was that attempting to bootstrap through the power curve is exceptionally susceptible to capital constraints. Back in the dot com days a number of 'baby telephone companies' that were building out their networks and spending huge amounts of money on laying out the infrastruc…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> anybody with a car and a laptop can create a viable Uber competitor It's a bit more complicated than that...
No, you don't understand. He's one of the guys who can make Twitter in a weekend.
Source: was principal server engineer for flywheel, an Uber competitor.
Sincere question: what protects Uber from competition enough to imply huge profits in the future? Network effects don't seem that strong. People will download an app to save money, and drivers will download an app to make money. It doesn't cause any major inconvenience. In fact, it seems like a market that may approach perfect competition in a matter of years. There are only two companies now because there are only t…
You could say the same about chat app. One person downloads the app to chat. The other downloads to reply. And here we are. Still using WhatsApp:)
In transportation, all these taxi companies are using the same roads; the same network. I don’t have to make sure AcmeRideShare has permission at both the pickup and drop off points.
And I can change my mind tomorrow and go with ABCRideShare if I have a coupon. I can’t just arbitrarily decide to use ICQ tomorrow to talk to my Facebook friends.
Uber will be a dead Unicorn in the medium future. They've got too many legal pressures, competitors with native advantages (i.e. the automakers), and their expansion plans have them overextended. Here in Edmonton, AB, Canada, regulatory changes have pushed the Uber prices to almost 2x during non-surge times over regular taxis. Taxi's have stepped up. Local competitors have sprouted. Carshares are abounding. It's all…
If uber has no barrier to entry, neither does facebook.
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How terrible. Having to spend 1-2 minutes downloading an app. Expect Austin to occur elsewhere (Uber and Lyft leaving due to local regulation, and competitors filling the void).
Spend time: figure out what app, download it (possibly on data roaming), make a new account, use app once, be stuck wuth data breaches forever, and good luck figuring out which one is tracking you all the time and running your battery to the ground. Uber is not an angel, but at least with one app we have a lot of people pointing out privacy violations. With two (say, Lyft in US cities), there's some choice. If Uber r…
Sincere question: what protects Uber from competition enough to imply huge profits in the future? Network effects don't seem that strong. People will download an app to save money, and drivers will download an app to make money. It doesn't cause any major inconvenience. In fact, it seems like a market that may approach perfect competition in a matter of years. There are only two companies now because there are only t…
Yes, that's correct. The taxi business (now they called "ride sharing" for some reason!) is just like air travel. Price matters the most but brand and quality of service is important as well. It's a very low margin business and has a low barrier to entry. This makes Uber a risky investment in my opinion. Once Uber decides to make money, the real game will start. You'll see lots of competition and not much appetite fo…
Many drivers drive for both Lyft and Uber so what exactly is that brand? The app? I don't see a lot of brand to be loyal to.