How Uber Got Lost
nytimes.com
How Uber Got Lost
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Re: How Uber Got Lost
#2The infrastructure they've built their business on is crumbling. Every so often I'm running late and think to myself "I should just drive" (by which I mean take an Uber). I check the driving times in Google Maps and it's as long as waiting for the subway and walking. There are just too many people on the roads for cars to be a competitive mode of transport; people only drive when there is absolutely no other option.
The product has also gotten worse. People used to be happy driving for Uber, and you didn't have to pay a fare to both the taxi company and the driver directly ("tip"). Now Uber is just like taking a taxi; the driver is miserable (and let you know it), and they don't get paid unless you pay the fare AND give them extra money. It's a pain. I pretty much never use a taxi or Uber for this reason; it just seems evil to force someone to do work they don't like for very little money. That can't be good for Uber's growth.
(I love their open-source contributions, though!)
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#3was it ever on ground? uber was always under water, financially speaking. whole uber idea consists in making money out of not being regulated in regulated markets, through exploitation of loopholes in regulations. not very sustainable.
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#4It seems none of this turn people into peon services at behest of capitalists are really sustainable other than for deceptive tactics to bilk more money than customers are willing to pay by for instance stealing tips in order to make them seem like they are sustainable or growth businesses.
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#5I feel like Uber became a gamble on self driving technology. It will be interesting to see if they can last long enough to see it happen. I could see them running out of money before that happens but I kind of hope they make it.
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#6I feel like Uber became a gamble on self driving technology. It will be interesting to see if they can last long enough to see it happen. I could see them running out of money before that happens but I kind of hope they make it.
Everyone talks about Uber being a bet on self-driving cars but how do they “win”?
Are they going to own and maintain an absolutely massive fleet of self-driving cars which they can’t afford? If they’re leasing self-driving cars from the owners, you’re right back where you started, paying people to use their cars. Or is the idea they somehow figure out self-driving technology, license it to Ford or whoever, and then shut down the whole taxi business?
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#7The infrastructure they've built their business on is crumbling. Every so often I'm running late and think to myself "I should just drive" (by which I mean take an Uber). I check the driving times in Google Maps and it's as long as waiting for the subway and walking. There are just too many people on the roads for cars to be a competitive mode of transport; people only drive when there is absolutely no other option.…
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Re: How Uber Got Lost
#8I don't think they really knew where they were located in the first place, then headed for somewhere that they were not equipped to get to. They've always been lost.
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#9I feel deeply uncomfortable taking Ubers, especially in Seattle. The drivers are inevitably working class folk, just trying to scrape by. They inevitably mention the increasing rent and cost of living. They inevitably ask what I do and I have to respond that I'm one of the asshole carpetbagging tech people who come in and raise the cost of living, raise the rent.
Services like Uber are placing the class barrier front and center. They're making the differences between the have and the have nots bitterly visible. Which...I guess is a good thing? If you're into the whole class consciousness stuff. I'm not so sure myself. Perhaps that's because I'd be a bourgeoisie, not a proletarian.
Re: How Uber Got Lost
#10I feel deeply uncomfortable taking Ubers, especially in Seattle. The drivers are inevitably working class folk, just trying to scrape by. They inevitably mention the increasing rent and cost of living. They inevitably ask what I do and I have to respond that I'm one of the asshole carpetbagging tech people who come in and raise the cost of living, raise the rent. Services like Uber are placing the class barrier front…
> I have to respond that ...
Says who?