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Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

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Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#251

Post by MichaelBurge »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #126
dllthomas wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Workers choosing not to work is a strike. Infrastructure owners choosing not to let workers work is something else.

Since Uber actively works against their drivers' collective organization and intentionally atomizes their labor force, a coordinated action for all drivers is only feasible in the context of Uber suspending service. If individual drivers chose not to service JFK, that was their decision and we can respect them for it. There were, however, Uber drivers breaking the strike and that reflects on Uber accordingly.

Can't modern drivers organize with a Facebook group or something? Or do Uber hire corporate spies to collect names and ban everyone?

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#252

Post by usernameplease »

exodust wrote: post #136
guelo wrote: post #75

That perfectly timed million dollar donation to ACLU was marketing genius. I can't imagine how you go about making a decision like that and quickly pull the trigger in such a fast paced volatile environment.

which is enough reason for me never to use Lyft. #hasta-la-lyfta-baby (work in progress delete Lyft hashtag).

Can I ask why donating to the ACLU made you delete your account? It may be a waste of VC money, but they do stand up for civil liberties.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#253

Post by azinman2 »

tatterdemalion wrote: post #192
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sole point I'll argue in this thread is "so did Lyft". If you're boycotting all ridesharing apps in favour of licensed taxis, that's one thing. But deleting Uber and installing Lyft is misguided.

Its true, in many of the points for which Uber is criticized (including this), Lyft is no better. One might even go as far as to say something along the lines of "there is no ethical consumption under capitailism." But the point of a boycott isn't to purify one's own ethics, but to get the producer of the boycotted product to change their behavior. To this end it is more productive to focus on the market leader, or t…

Lyft donated 1M to the ACLU. That's pretty different about taking action.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#254

Post by general_ai »

agumonkey wrote: post #237
general_ai wrote: post #58

Kalanick and Musk are basically the only two remaining adults in SV. Musk basically said on twitter, "I'll go and talk to the guy". Everyone else is more concerned with political correctness and virtue signaling. Hundred thousand bombs dropped into five countries on that list -- not a goddamn peep from anybody. 2150 people killed by drones -- same. Iraqi refugees banned for half a year -- no one has even heard of it.…

It's hard to understand what Musk thinks here. He believes he can influence or correct Trump's policies ? weird.

Has there been any case in recent history (20 years) in which a president has changed anything of any consequence due to mass protest?

Musk is on the _advisory board_. It could be that this advisory board is a farce, or it could be that Trump would actually listen to a fellow "billionaire playboy philanthropist".

One thing is pretty clear to me: Trump is not going to give a shit about either the liberal press (or in fact press in general), or liberal intelligentsia protesting in the street, especially if both demonize and disparage him no matter what he does, and refuse dialogue.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#255

Post by tunesmith »

rm999 wrote: post #33

This is an example of the economic principle of goodwill. Uber has a poor reputation that leads to actual losses, but the negative value of the reputation is difficult to quantify. Conversely, Lyft has fostered positive goodwill that strengthens it in indirect ways. This controversy will likely blow over with a small amount of damage, but it's a reminder of the vulnerability that Uber's management style brings to it.…

I think this is the only interpretation that makes sense, really. If you dig down into what actually happened regarding the taxi strike, then none of the reactions make a lick of sense. This is more that people are looking for reasons to hate Uber and like Lyft. That's a battle Uber has been losing for quite a while.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#257

Post by kelnos »

alphonsegaston wrote: post #29
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #3

Dan Primack summarised this well; Uber failed on messaging: "Uber has done a lot of questionable things over the years, but its actions this past weekend vis-a-vis Trump's immigration ban weren't among them. An actual timeline from Saturday, which may differ from what you saw on social media: • 4:20pm ET: CEO Travis Kalanick sent email to employees. It stopped short of explicitly opposing the ban, but did say: (1) Th…

Uber broke the strike by breaking the strike. This absurd focus on whether surge pricing was a multiplier or disincentive is a complete distraction. The taxi drivers reached out and asked Uber for solidarity. They dispatched drivers to break the strike. They made their bed in the court of public opinion, now they can lie in it.

The taxi drivers' strike was in poor taste anyway. "Ok, so people are going to have trouble with airport transportation because of this immigration ban, so let's make it even harder by taking away from transportation options." They not only could have made it harder for those who did eventually manage to clear CBP to get home, but they also made it harder for protesters to get to and from the airport. If I were in charge of Uber's or Lyft's ability to shut down their service for the airport, I certainly wouldn't do that.

This is a fine example of a union strike harming people.

Regarding surge, it's "damned if you do, damned if you don't": when they leave surge pricing up in these situations, they're blasted for profiteering, and now when they disable it, they're blasted for... what, exactly? Providing less of an incentive for drivers to go there?

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#258

Post by [deleted] »

ctack wrote: post #247
Consultant32452 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, people protest against things that the media manipulates them into protesting for. The inflammatory language has been scandalous at best. The media didn't encourage people to protest when Obama and Clinton proudly funded a wall between the US and Mexico in 2006. But now we've had "No Wall" protests in quite a few places and traditional leftists making right-wing supply side economics arguments against renegotiati…

I'm glad something is finally happening over there. After watching the second Iraq war happen with the media doing pretty much nothing, I can tell you that I could not agree more with what you said. But it will blow over and then it will be back to business as usual.

[deleted]

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#259

Post by ZenoArrow »

tatterdemalion wrote: post #192
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sole point I'll argue in this thread is "so did Lyft". If you're boycotting all ridesharing apps in favour of licensed taxis, that's one thing. But deleting Uber and installing Lyft is misguided.

Its true, in many of the points for which Uber is criticized (including this), Lyft is no better. One might even go as far as to say something along the lines of "there is no ethical consumption under capitailism." But the point of a boycott isn't to purify one's own ethics, but to get the producer of the boycotted product to change their behavior. To this end it is more productive to focus on the market leader, or t…

>"there is no ethical consumption under capitailism."

Imagine there was a competitor to Uber and Lyft that was owned by the drivers themselves in the form of a cooperative, so that any new drivers would have equal say in the direction the service took. Would that not be more ethical than Uber and Lyft?

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#260

Post by 3131s »

wpietri wrote: post #144
3131s wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A baller is someone who spends a lot of money, lives lavishly, etc. An eight ball is 3.5 grams of coke, AKA an 1/8 of an ounce.

Are you sure eight ball is related? OED thinks "baller" comes from the wealth of sports figures: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/06/ballin-for-real/

I didn't mean to imply that. They're not related.
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