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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

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strike was nonsense anyway. Why were drivers striking -- punishing the innocent residents and visitors (and protestors/allies!) of New York (a sanctuary city!), in an attempt to punish Donald Trump?

You don't understand protest. Sure, one thing you can do is disrupt the specific people doing something bad. But that's pretty rare. As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is…

> As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore

The problem with this approach is that unless you do it in a way that's relevant to the original issue, you're just dragging innocent people into your fight and victimizing them. Depending on how much of an asshat you are to them (like, say, stranding them for several hours at an airport when they've just got off a flight), there's a good chance you'll push them to be less sympathetic to your cause.

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

#272
post #7

Completely stolen from https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/5r2apd/lyft_sur... This is all a consequence of bad messaging on Uber's part here; they're not in the wrong. Uber's Surge system is all automatic--if demand goes way up, and supply doesn't follow suit, prices will increase in the app. Unfortunately, demand goes way up during catastrophes like terror attacks, so Uber has had a few bad instances where,…

I don't think the pricing is the extent of people's concerns, or even the majority. I'm not a fan of Kalanick, personally, but I was prepared to have been wrong about him when I saw his Facebook post about taking care of the drivers who were stranded by this idiocy. Then, I saw they were taking fares to JFK during the taxi strike — effectively breaking it. To my eyes, and those of many others, that is an ugly repudia…

What if Uber (and Lyft; by your definition they broke the strike too) didn't agree with the reason for the strike, or found it counterproductive? It's well within their rights to do so (and I'd agree with them). Just because your "transportation brethren" decide to take some action, it doesn't mean you should play lemming and take the same action in solidarity, especially if you think that action is in poor taste, or is harmful.

I mean, c'mon. During the time of the strike, people needed transportation to and from the airport more than ever, given the protesters coming in and out. And hell, if detainees had been able to clear CBP during the strike, the strike would have actively made it harder for those poor people to get home. I'd say the taxi workers union should be ashamed for picking that time to strike.

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

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true, but Kalanick has built and traded on a reputation as a 'baller ' (his words, not mine) with a combative attitude, so he has himself to blame for people jumping to conclusions.

OT: Someone I know this past year called themselves a (former) "baller". They used to be a big time partier and drug user -- a (mostly, distortedly) functioning addict. A lot of coke, among other things. I initially thought of "eight ball", which does feature in one of their more dramatic stories. But apparently the term has other or mixed provenance. And things like the urban dictionary provide multiple definitions.…

I was thinking of the more general sense of being showing off your wealth and connections to gain social status. I don't have strong opinions about his person, I just think his public persona has been a liability this time because it led people to assume the worst.

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

#274
post #39
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who is only just finding out about all this, I don't fully understand why the cab drivers stopped picking people up. I think the fact that people were using Uber (and Lyft) to leave the airport means they needed to (which is ESPECIALLY if true if surge was in place for some period of time and people still willingly took it). As poetic as they might think it is, taxi drivers not welcoming people into the co…

> All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess... Then imagine how it must feel to be one of the people affected by the ban. That's the point of the strike: "Oh you think this is inconvenient?"

Ironically, if the court order to put a stay on the ban had come in during the strike, it would have made it even harder for those poor people to get home. How's that for "inconvenience"? The strike was a bad plan.

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

#275
post #10

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…

I think the issue people have isn't the surge pricing so much as the fact that Uber didn't participate in the strike, and thus profited from it.

So Uber's choices are (a) Do nothing and be accused of profiteering from the strike, (b) Forgo profit and be accused of breaking the strike, or (c) Recognize that they're in a hostage situation and be forced into joining the strike.

I'm no Uber fan but those are pretty lousy choices to force on anyone.

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

#276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I agree with all you wrote. Hence the confusion. The only thing that might be a lever to control Trump is Musk global fame as an US visionary in Space and Cars, plus the Gigafactory (which is very much Trump-ish in gigantism) with its US jobs feel. Other than that ..

Trump is 70 years old and he's currently the most powerful man in the world. He won't be "controlled" by anyone. But he likely will listen to the advice of people he respects.

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

#277
post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps that was the wrong word. "To bring about peace" is the definition I was going for. Either way, this is not going to solve anything.

Go re-read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail". The relevant bit has been quoted elsethread.

If you're talking about civil disobedience, then this taxi strike is not an example and ultimately not of much importance or purpose.

Immigration and customs officials refusing to follow the ban order would be actual disobedience and far more effectual in signal and lives changed.

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

#278

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…

Can this app store download bump be judged independently of the fact that Lyft just expanded to a bunch of cities[1]? Lyft being available in all these cities would obviously give it a large bump. Not sure why techcrunch doesn't mention that this may have NOTHING to do with the #deleteuber campaign. [1] https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/25/lyft-expands-to-40-new-u-s...

How dare you making appstore downloads anything other than an anti-Trump statement! /s

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

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I honestly don't care about taxi drivers and reject the idea that they hold some moral ground. I'm glad they're all going out of business. And if they decide to hold a strike, there's zero reason for Uber or Lyft to want to be beholden to them.

I think I'm with you on this--I don't care especially about the taxi-driving profession as it once was, especially the dinosaur unionized kind. (IMO, In less than 10 years it will probably be a nearly extinct profession.) However I think we can all agree that we can still care about taxi drivers themselves, as people.

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

#280

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…

Right, and on Sunday he followed up by unambiguously calling the ban "wrong and unjust".[1] Which was also a fumble because it sounded like a reaction to the blowback.

Also interesting: Uber pledged $3M to help drivers right now. Lyft pledged just $250K/year.. to the ACLU (annual budget: $133M). But Uber lost that one too. People want war with Trump, not diplomacy.

As for turning off surge pricing, clearly it was after the strike and meant to reduce customer complaints about surge pricing after exceptional events. But it also means they were "effectively undercutting taxi drivers as they returned to work after protesting."[2] Another "Doh!" moment for Uber.

[1] https://newsroom.uber.com/standing-up-for-the-driver-communi...

[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/lyft-an...

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