In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares • Hacker News Board

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#81

Post by minimuffins » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:49 PM UTC

stagbeetle wrote: post #26

This seems like a slam piece following the #DeleteUber bandwagon. 1). The title doesn't match the contents. Instead of reporting on the specifics of the fare changes, Newcomer rehashes the more prominent Uber scandals and some short commentary on TK's "short temper." 2). A very short paragraph (around 1/20th the article) breifly elaborates on the fares: > And the gig has gotten harder for longtime drivers. In 2012, U…

It is a slam piece, but Kalanick makes it incredibly easy to write these by being an honest to God buffoon.

> I have an immigrant in my family who's just like the driver...

Sounds kinda racist.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#82

Post by pjwal » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:50 PM UTC

moogly wrote: post #71

pjwal wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't consider it a fair discussion when the driver falsely insists the fair is $2.75/mile, when it is $3.75/mile and continues to pound the theme when Kalanick had already given his explanation. What is the driver expecting? For Uber to go back and raise fairs on Uber Black?

1) He didn't "insist" it was $2.75. He mentioned the figure once. 2) When he quoted the figure, he said "and it's now what, $2.75?" clearly implying that he's not entirely sure about the current rate.

It seems like the driver should know these basic facts before he engages on the matter.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#83

Post by erdojo » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:51 PM UTC

rockarage wrote: post #44

Travis is right on a technicality they did not lower Uber Black prices much if any. What they did instead was coerced Uber Black drivers to take Uber X request. Yes drivers can reject Uber X request, but if you reject a certain amount of Uber rides, they kick you off their system. Probably why the driver is complaining about going bankrupt, you need a luxury car to drive Uber Black, but if you're stuck picking Uber X…

Are you sure they still do this? I haven't gotten a Black Car for an X fare in several years. Used to be fairly common, now never. Before the Susan Fowler allegations, I was a 2-3x per day rider (I'm now mostly using Lyft).

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#84

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:51 PM UTC

seertaak wrote: post #46

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I actually thought the driver was exceedingly rude. He clearly took advantage of Kalanick being in the public eye, and thus a "target". Filming him without acknowledging it was totally immoral, it should reduce any fair person's bayesian priors as to the credibility of the driver. I'm no fan of Kalanick, but I thought he comported himself reasonably, taking the time to…

Also, while it's perfectly okay for the driver to tell Travis what his concerns or pain points are, it's rather rich of him to assume that he has any context to tell Travis what business decisions make sense. As if Uber won't have charged higher prices if they could get away with it.

The CEOs being disconnected with the masses is bad, but so is the masses assuming that somehow THEY know just the right thing the CEO should have done without being privy to any of the data that a CEO has access to.

It's not too different from the arrogance you see on HN.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#85

Post by ddrmaxgt37 » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:52 PM UTC

KirinDave wrote: post #63

pfarnsworth wrote: post #25

How is this video not illegal, especially in California? And sure rates went down, but it's still 3X the price of UberX. It didn't go down precipitously. From $4.90/1.25 to 3.75/0.65 won't cause someone to lose $97k and probably he got more activity overall. I agree with the CEO that this guy sounds like he's blaming Uber for his problems, when there are plenty of UberBlack drivers making hand over fist otherwise the…

> How is this video not illegal, especially in California? You agree to surveillance when you enter the car. Just like a taxi, a bus, a train or a trolley. You actually don't have an "expectation of privacy" in these spaces either. So a drone cam or telephoto lens is okay too. That's where state law is interesting. California is actually surprisingly permissive for photographers and videographers.

Doesn't California require 2 party consent? So all parties have to consent to the recording for it to be lawful.

Which state laws are you reading?

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#86

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:52 PM UTC

KirinDave wrote: post #63

pfarnsworth wrote: post #25

How is this video not illegal, especially in California? And sure rates went down, but it's still 3X the price of UberX. It didn't go down precipitously. From $4.90/1.25 to 3.75/0.65 won't cause someone to lose $97k and probably he got more activity overall. I agree with the CEO that this guy sounds like he's blaming Uber for his problems, when there are plenty of UberBlack drivers making hand over fist otherwise the…

> How is this video not illegal, especially in California? You agree to surveillance when you enter the car. Just like a taxi, a bus, a train or a trolley. You actually don't have an "expectation of privacy" in these spaces either. So a drone cam or telephoto lens is okay too. That's where state law is interesting. California is actually surprisingly permissive for photographers and videographers.

[deleted]

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#87

Post by Cookingboy » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:52 PM UTC

timthelion wrote: post #75

seertaak wrote: post #46

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I actually thought the driver was exceedingly rude. He clearly took advantage of Kalanick being in the public eye, and thus a "target". Filming him without acknowledging it was totally immoral, it should reduce any fair person's bayesian priors as to the credibility of the driver. I'm no fan of Kalanick, but I thought he comported himself reasonably, taking the time to…

> Filming him without acknowledging it was totally immoral, To me this is a very classist oppinion. Normal people are filmed as they take the bus, ride the subway, go on the elevator, walk through the graveyard (seriously), go shopping, so why should a rich person who can afford a cab be granted an exclusive right to privacy which the rest of us don't have? If we promote this case due to the expectation of privacy th…

"Normal people are filmed as they take the bus, ride the subway, go on the elevator, walk through the graveyard (seriously), go shopping, so why should a rich person who can afford a cab be granted an exclusive right to privacy which the rest of us don't have?"

What are you talking about? Normal, non-rich people totally have the same expectation of privacy when they take a cab. Would YOU be ok if your cab driver films you without any knowledge? A taxi/uber/lyft is a rented private car, it is not the same as public transportation.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#88

Post by pjwal » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:53 PM UTC

chickenfries wrote: post #80

seertaak wrote: post #46

This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but I actually thought the driver was exceedingly rude. He clearly took advantage of Kalanick being in the public eye, and thus a "target". Filming him without acknowledging it was totally immoral, it should reduce any fair person's bayesian priors as to the credibility of the driver. I'm no fan of Kalanick, but I thought he comported himself reasonably, taking the time to…

> This will probably be an unpopular opinion Well what do you know, at the time of writing this, it's the top comment! > The fact that the footage of him with two women wasn't cut out is frankly disgusting and a total invasion of his privacy. He didn't do anything wrong except flirt a bit. How tawdry of Bloomberg to show that material. It's relevant because he said things like this: “That’s kind of how I roll. I make…

Obviously, he did not know he was being filmed...so it was a secret.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#89

Post by nickff » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:54 PM UTC

bearcobra wrote: post #67

nickff wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really is an atrocious article; they compared numbers which are loosely correlated at best: > "The study of 261 senior professionals in the United States found that 21 per cent had clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits. The rate of psychopathy in the general population is about one in a hundred." They should have applied the same standard to both groups, but instead used a very loose definition fo…

I can't speak to the methodology of the study in the article, but it appears that the author of The Psychopath Test found that the rate was 4x the general population[1], so I feel like the argument still stands [1] http://www.payscale.com/career-news/2015/04/why-a-disproport...

If you're not going to read the entire book, please at least read more of the Wikipedia article.

>He considers the book a cautionary tale against diagnosing someone without really knowing them, and about the need to avoid confirmation bias. He thinks that is "part of the reason why there are so many miscarriages of justice in the psychopath-spotting field." He does believe that Hare's construct of psychopathy applies to some people, and that their victims deserve sympathy, but is concerned about the "alarming world of globe-trotting experts, forensic psychologists, criminal profilers, traveling the planet armed with nothing much more than a Certificate of Attendance, just like the one I had.

Re: In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

#90

Post by erdojo » Tue, Feb 28, 2017, 9:54 PM UTC

KirinDave wrote: post #63

pfarnsworth wrote: post #25

How is this video not illegal, especially in California? And sure rates went down, but it's still 3X the price of UberX. It didn't go down precipitously. From $4.90/1.25 to 3.75/0.65 won't cause someone to lose $97k and probably he got more activity overall. I agree with the CEO that this guy sounds like he's blaming Uber for his problems, when there are plenty of UberBlack drivers making hand over fist otherwise the…

> How is this video not illegal, especially in California? You agree to surveillance when you enter the car. Just like a taxi, a bus, a train or a trolley. You actually don't have an "expectation of privacy" in these spaces either. So a drone cam or telephoto lens is okay too. That's where state law is interesting. California is actually surprisingly permissive for photographers and videographers.

Unless Uber has that in its terms of service, that may be open to interpretation. Even if an Uber is considered a public space, that's not the sole determining factor in two-party consent cases.

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/california-recording-law