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In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares

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

#331

Post by whalabi »

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…

Rude? This driver, rightly or wrongly so, believes this Travis guy bankrupted him by being dishonest.

I'm sure Travis can spare 10 minutes in his 70 billion dollar lifestyle if this guy's life has been ruined.

And based off what we know of Uber's values, attitudes, and CEO, the driver was probably right and Travis-bro deserves some rudeness to bring him back down to Earth.

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

#332

Post by em3rgent0rdr »

lupin_sansei wrote: post #234
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #168

This is why we need a distributed p2p ridesharing system, like http://libretaxi.org/

How does Libre Taxi uniquely identify a driver for ratings and kicking them off the system if they are too bad?

I doesn't yet, but you make a good point that it desperately needs a reputation system. There are a few feature requests to this effect.

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

#333

Post by stillsut »

If DeleteUber succeeds, that's then end of the American dream as we know it.

Starting a tech business with better ideas, and working harder and smarter than the Old Boys with Money (and taxi medallions) is the one of the last ways anyone, like a Zuckerberg, can climb the ladder, without selling out their own hacker spirit as we call it. The fact that the CEO would sit and dish strategy in a frank manner is something I find commendable, and seems to part of this guy's nature.

But if Uber goes down in flames for this petty PR play after burning through billions in VC money to acquire the market share they are rapidly losing, no young founder, heck no man or woman who hasn't trained in corporate lawyer dark arts is going to be allowed to run these innovative startups who need huge amounts of capital to be sunk initially for a long term payout.

Welcome to the world of "cool program! the grownups will take it from here kiddo."

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

#334

Post by chickenfries »

unityByFreedom wrote: post #279
chickenfries wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether I would be happy about it or not does not make it right either. My unpopular opinion is that this video is in the public interest and that matters more than whether or not the CEO of Uber is happy about it or feels like their privacy was violated.

I don't support the idea that our culture would be better off by sharing more videos of each other when we did not expect we'd be speaking to the entire world. It's why we don't get to see Trump's or Congress' tax returns without some kind of court case. If they're forced to do it by law, it will be forced upon you too, and boom, everyone knows all your financials. We can decide what we want to add to our culture. Se…

Another unpopular opinion here: I think people in power should be held to a higher standard than lowly peons like me.

Imagine yourself as the driver. If the video had never been published, he would never have even gotten an apology from Kalanick. I sympathise with those who don't have the kind of power that the CEO of of Uber does. He is a serf in the hellish gig economy that Kalanick has made himself a billionaire many times over. This is the most meaningful political impact he will probably ever make in his life. Kalanick, meanwhile, will probably be okay, even if this leads to a chain of events where he is fired.

I want to choose a kind of culture where the working class are not so powerless against the rich. Just because one thinks it should be the law for the president to release their tax returns, doesn't mean that they think every single person should be subject to such an invasion of privacy for no reason.

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

#335

Post by chickenfries »

hluska wrote: post #273
hsod wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think I would be okay with being filmed as long as it wasn't secret. Would you be OK with the video being published on a major news site?

If I happened to be CEO of a ~ $60 billion company, you're damned right that I'd be okay with Bloomberg publishing a video that brought both my character and competence into question. There is no such thing as privacy when you get to be that big. And frankly, any leader competent enough to run a business that big should already know that.

Exactly, even if there was no video, the driver could have written a viral medium or Facebook post and quoted his words. A conversation with one of your "employees" is not private!

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

#336

Post by timthelion »

dang wrote: post #329
timthelion wrote: post #163

This is a kind of categorical thinking, which is sometimes misatributed as being "autistic". You have a clear logical distinction, I'll grant you that. You have a declaration of your opinion, which on its face seems resonable. But you fail to examine the details of the situation. You are reducing your morality to a few simple and rigid rules. Those rules can be seen as something akin to a computer program. If your mo…

That's unduly personal. Please don't do that on HN. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13758473 and marked it off-topic.

Would my reply be acceptable without the first sentence? Or is the entire thing too personal?

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

#337

Post by dkonofalski »

prostoalex wrote: post #309
dkonofalski wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true with Uber Black. If you refuse an Uber X fare as an Uber Black driver, you're just marked as inactive temporarily (as you've declined a legitimate customer when there were no Uber Black customers). You can mark yourself as active again and take fares, but you are not forced to take Uber X fares as an Uber Black driver.

If it's as seamless as you describe it to be, it's not an issue. An external source here https://pando.com/2014/09/04/uber-continues-to-screw-its-par... claims "Uber drivers are required to maintain a minimum 80 percent ride acceptance rate to remain in the company’s good graces – the best performers exceed 97 percent, the company tells its drivers. Ignore too many inbound ride requests when you are the closest vehic…

This only applies to drivers that decline fares in their current rate class. Standard Ubers, Uber XLs, etc. Uber Black drivers that decline UberX fares when there are no Uber Black customers are simply marked as inactive. They can set themselves as active again and accept fares again almost immediately. If they continue to do so, then there is a wait time simply because they're not offering the service they're contracted to do and they're creating a longer wait time for Uber customers.

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

#338

Post by dang »

timthelion wrote: post #336
dang wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's unduly personal. Please don't do that on HN. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13758473 and marked it off-topic.

Would my reply be acceptable without the first sentence? Or is the entire thing too personal?

That first paragraph would still be strangely personalized without the first sentence but wouldn't be over the line.

Still, it would be better to make your point about the thing, not the person. We can't really know anything about a person from an internet comment or two, so we mostly see what we project. That tends to make comments unsubstantive in addition to uncivil.

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

#339

Post by st3v3r »

xapata wrote: post #287
st3v3r wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is absolutely wrong. They're deciding, as a contractor, to not take jobs which are not worth their time. As a contractor, they're supposed to be able to do that without punishment. If Uber is doing this, it is a punishment.

> punishment There's some balance between punishment and keeping the rider experience pleasant. I don't want to wait 10 minutes to get matched because of nearby lurking Uber Black cars passing on my Uber X request. If a driver ignores several requests in a row, they're clearly taking a break. It's a feature, not a punishment.

No, that's not clear. And if you don't like that you can't get a ride in time, switch to another network.

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

#340

Post by true_religion »

j-walker wrote: post #319
true_religion wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's keep in mind that Uber Black was meant to be a replacement for renting limousine by the hour. It was meant to take something that used to be $135/hour with a 5 hour minimum, and turn it into $50 per 30 minute ride so limousine owners could profit off their spare time. This is hardly something that is for the common man, and has little to do with self-driving cars or automation.

> Let's keep in mind that Uber Black was meant to be a replacement for renting limousine by the hour. WHAT?! How are the vehicles on this site even close to a limousine? http://uberestimate.com/what-is-uber-black/

Private car services offer 4 seater and SUVs as well as the typical looking limo. That's what most of their business is... Driving people to and from locations like nightclubs in SUVs.
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