The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
daily.jstor.org
The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
1–10 of 93 posts
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#2I don't understand how people can be tricked by the branding of the 'sharing economy.'
The average seven year old is capable of understanding the difference between actual sharing (A friend giving you a lift), and 'sharing' (An unmarked taxi.) They could also probably grasp the difference between CouchSurfing[1], and AirBnB.
[1] Couchsurfing was the actual sharing economy, but as it turns out, you can't make billions of dollars from people letting out their couches to strangers, for the cost of company, and a home-cooked meal.
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#3>Lessig’s paradigmatic example of a hybrid is Red Hat, Inc.
Well, so much for that! Which I guess just further proves the article's point.
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#4I don't understand how people can be tricked by the branding of the 'sharing economy.' The average seven year old is capable of understanding the difference between actual sharing (A friend giving you a lift), and 'sharing' (An unmarked taxi.) They could also probably grasp the difference between CouchSurfing[1], and AirBnB. [1] Couchsurfing was the actual sharing economy, but as it turns out, you can't make billions…
I've found myself drinking someone's branding kool-aid before, and this is how it happened. You think to yourself what you've just laid out, that this is so obvious a seven year old should know better. So obvious, in fact, that it can't be real.
"This is just an unmarked taxi."
"No, we're way different."
You think to yourself how no one could be that blatant, and you notice other people are buying into it, so you start to question you own worldview. Then it reaches a critical mass, where there's enough self-perpetuation to make you throw skepticism to the wind. And after some time, after seeing a few cracks in the brand, you think to yourself, god damn it, should have stuck to my guns.
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#5I don't understand how people can be tricked by the branding of the 'sharing economy.' The average seven year old is capable of understanding the difference between actual sharing (A friend giving you a lift), and 'sharing' (An unmarked taxi.) They could also probably grasp the difference between CouchSurfing[1], and AirBnB. [1] Couchsurfing was the actual sharing economy, but as it turns out, you can't make billions…
The point was not to trick average people, it was to trick regulators by creating sufficient ambiguity around whether these companies were different enough from their already-existing counterparts to justify not applying the same regulations to them.
And it worked! For as long as it needed to, anyway.
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#6I don't understand how people can be tricked by the branding of the 'sharing economy.' The average seven year old is capable of understanding the difference between actual sharing (A friend giving you a lift), and 'sharing' (An unmarked taxi.) They could also probably grasp the difference between CouchSurfing[1], and AirBnB. [1] Couchsurfing was the actual sharing economy, but as it turns out, you can't make billions…
I've found myself drinking someone's branding kool-aid before, and this is how it happened. You think to yourself what you've just laid out, that this is so obvious a seven year old should know better. So obvious, in fact, that it can't be real. "This is just an unmarked taxi." "No, we're way different." You think to yourself how no one could be that blatant, and you notice other people are buying into it, so you sta…
Or:
"This is just an unmarked taxi."
"Except hailing/billing isn't stuck in the past so you don't have to get lucky to find an empty one on the street or call a surly dispatcher and wait 45 minutes. You also get the bill up front so you know how much it will cost before you even say yes. You can always pay by credit card too, you'll never arrive at the destination and then only be informed that the credit card reader is 'broken' and the cabbie can only accept cash. Added bonus: it's about half the price of a regular taxi."
"Cool"
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found myself drinking someone's branding kool-aid before, and this is how it happened. You think to yourself what you've just laid out, that this is so obvious a seven year old should know better. So obvious, in fact, that it can't be real. "This is just an unmarked taxi." "No, we're way different." You think to yourself how no one could be that blatant, and you notice other people are buying into it, so you sta…
Or: "This is just an unmarked taxi." "Except hailing/billing isn't stuck in the past so you don't have to get lucky to find an empty one on the street or call a surly dispatcher and wait 45 minutes. You also get the bill up front so you know how much it will cost before you even say yes. You can always pay by credit card too, you'll never arrive at the destination and then only be informed that the credit card reader…
It's definitely better, no arguments here. My point is that Silicon Valley has branded everything it does as 'tech' when in reality, it's just a better taxi company, a better hotel company, etc. unencumbered by the old ways. Like, the reality would have been good enough, 'We're a taxi (or insert whatever industry you want) company doing things way better than before." Instead, it's 'We're using algorithms and this shit is out of this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found myself drinking someone's branding kool-aid before, and this is how it happened. You think to yourself what you've just laid out, that this is so obvious a seven year old should know better. So obvious, in fact, that it can't be real. "This is just an unmarked taxi." "No, we're way different." You think to yourself how no one could be that blatant, and you notice other people are buying into it, so you sta…
Or: "This is just an unmarked taxi." "Except hailing/billing isn't stuck in the past so you don't have to get lucky to find an empty one on the street or call a surly dispatcher and wait 45 minutes. You also get the bill up front so you know how much it will cost before you even say yes. You can always pay by credit card too, you'll never arrive at the destination and then only be informed that the credit card reader…
Which is another way of saying that, yes, it is just an unmarked taxi but with a different way of doing business.
Look, I'm totally cool with businesses essentially protesting stifling regulation by loudly ignoring them and providing better service. But once you get the regulators' attention you need to be willing to sit down with them and hash out the details of what needs to change.
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#9>Lessig’s paradigmatic example of a hybrid is Red Hat, Inc. Well, so much for that! Which I guess just further proves the article's point.
25 years doesn't seem like a bad lifespan for an independent organization.
Re: The Sharing Economy Was Dead on Arrival
#10The "Sharing Economy" was always a lie. It was always about illegal acts rebranded. Illegal rebranded taxis. Illegal rebranded hotels. etc