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Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

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Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#201

Post by doublement »

trimbo wrote: post #88
6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #31

> ...the company’s upcoming pricing algorithms, which they hinted might be able to more precisely predict what riders might be willing to pay for a ride. I hate the whole idea of this. If they track you around, maybe realize you order from fancy places on uber eats, then they will raise prices on something that costs them the same. There's something that strikes me as especially awful about automating the "how much i…

I mean, do you own a nice house or car? If you do, you've already experienced this sizing-up. A contractor comes to the house and sees you can afford 2x what they'd normally charge. A mechanic for your Lexus charges N times as much as the same mechanic would for your Toyota, even though they're the same parts and manufacturer.

This is exactly why I rent my dwelling and drive an inconspicuous car.

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#202

Post by stereolambda »

clairity wrote: post #192
stereolambda wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're presenting a future where there is (in the limit) no point in earning money. Lately there was a discussion about how in the future it makes no sense to buy insurance if someone is willing to sell it to you, you are always better off saving and you won't get insured if you actually need it[0]. I understand all these specific scenarios may be kinda-dismissed with some commonsensical argumentation, but has someon…

you're grossly underestimating the absolute ingenuity of 7-10 billion people jostling against each other for status. even if people were taxed such that net income was exactly the same for everyone, higher earners would still try to claim superior status from it. and that theoretical limit of perfect, simultaneous, accurate information is akin to the heat death of the universe, and really not worth practical (as oppo…

I dunno, the status appeal of money is very much what you can buy with it.

I can technically imagine stores both online (good old tracking) and brick-and-mortar (looking at clothing and subtle body cues: inferring health, psychical well-being etc. - if not matching to external data with facial recognition) being able to quote, with machine learning, higher prices for you at check-out if your financial situation is better. Now of course wealthy people spend less on such "trivial" consumption in comparison to capital investments, but for middle class this could be significant. I mean a kind of thing like this.

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#203

Post by mirekrusin »

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #31

> ...the company’s upcoming pricing algorithms, which they hinted might be able to more precisely predict what riders might be willing to pay for a ride. I hate the whole idea of this. If they track you around, maybe realize you order from fancy places on uber eats, then they will raise prices on something that costs them the same. There's something that strikes me as especially awful about automating the "how much i…

Hey, we need a name for that "predictive discrimination"?

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#204

Post by larnmar »

Baltasaur wrote: post #115
umvi wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's fair. Please explain why you believe it is not fair. 1. I'm climbing a tree when I ought not to and fall and break my legs. I'm a poor construction worker which means I am now out of work. 2. I'm climbing a tree when I ought not to and fall and break my legs. I'm a wealthy programmer and just keep on going to work since my hands and brain still work fine. Fair? Or should the tree break my hands and give m…

This is such a colossally bad take. Tickets have the distinct purpose of disincentivizing dangerous driving. They don't do that if it's a flat fare and the person breaking the speed limit is sufficiently wealthy. Thus, if you want speeding tickets to affect everyone equally, you make them proportional.

Despite this, it’s (judging by cars) lower income people who tend to be the idiots driving recklessly on the streets. Being passed by a shitty Honda doing 120mph is common, being passed by a new luxury car doing the same is much rarer.

Why? Probably because rich people statistically tend to have better long term thinking and lower impulsivity, which is why they’re rich in the first place.

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#205

Post by mirekrusin »

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #31

> ...the company’s upcoming pricing algorithms, which they hinted might be able to more precisely predict what riders might be willing to pay for a ride. I hate the whole idea of this. If they track you around, maybe realize you order from fancy places on uber eats, then they will raise prices on something that costs them the same. There's something that strikes me as especially awful about automating the "how much i…

What is (legally speaking) a difference between "algorithm deducing how much you can pay" from taxi driver looking at your face and setting their meter accordingly to their feeling of how much you can pay? Is this legal?

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#206

Post by OrgNet »

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #31

> ...the company’s upcoming pricing algorithms, which they hinted might be able to more precisely predict what riders might be willing to pay for a ride. I hate the whole idea of this. If they track you around, maybe realize you order from fancy places on uber eats, then they will raise prices on something that costs them the same. There's something that strikes me as especially awful about automating the "how much i…

Amazon shows different prices to different people already... I sent a link to someone and stripped the tracking bit, and it was $10 cheaper for him

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#207

Post by FireBeyond »

mirekrusin wrote: post #205
6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #31

> ...the company’s upcoming pricing algorithms, which they hinted might be able to more precisely predict what riders might be willing to pay for a ride. I hate the whole idea of this. If they track you around, maybe realize you order from fancy places on uber eats, then they will raise prices on something that costs them the same. There's something that strikes me as especially awful about automating the "how much i…

What is (legally speaking) a difference between "algorithm deducing how much you can pay" from taxi driver looking at your face and setting their meter accordingly to their feeling of how much you can pay? Is this legal?

Nothing, which is why taxi metering is set by the city/state, so it can't be altered (legally).

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#208

Post by saberience »

mirekrusin wrote: post #205
6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #31

> ...the company’s upcoming pricing algorithms, which they hinted might be able to more precisely predict what riders might be willing to pay for a ride. I hate the whole idea of this. If they track you around, maybe realize you order from fancy places on uber eats, then they will raise prices on something that costs them the same. There's something that strikes me as especially awful about automating the "how much i…

What is (legally speaking) a difference between "algorithm deducing how much you can pay" from taxi driver looking at your face and setting their meter accordingly to their feeling of how much you can pay? Is this legal?

Except that cab drivers randomly setting their meters isn't a thing in any of the cabs I've ever been in, and I've lived in both NYC and London.

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#209

Post by input_sh »

leetcrew wrote: post #170
input_sh wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because it's really fair for both a billionaire and someone living on 40k a year to pay the same price (let's say 2k) for a speeding ticket. Both of those people will be impacted accordingly I'm sure.

there are less than three thousand billionaires in the whole world. they could all drive like it was a formula 1 grand prix 24/7 and it would create a barely measurable blip in traffic fatalities. somewhere between ten and fifteen percent of americans are driving without insurance. I'm a lot more worried about them than the one lambo I see every couple months.

Where did I claim you're more likely to get in a car accident with a billionaire?

There should be a punishment for traffic violations big enough to discourage the offender from repeating it. Since a couple of thousands will not cause such an effect on an ultra rich person, the punishment should be calculated in such a way that it actually does. Calculating it based off of income achieves just that.

Re: Uber and Lyft Suggest the Days of Cheap Rides Could Be Over

#210

Post by ikeboy »

davidgay wrote: post #198
ikeboy wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, if you value doing something more than the negative value to society, you should be permitted to do it. This is the entire point of pigovian taxes.

The trick here is to apply the golden rule and adjust the negative-value (an average-stranger's death) to the equivalent value applied to you (apparently-rich-stranger's death). Then you'll realise the cost of the fine needs to increase proportionally to your wealth (no, I'm not actually a fan of valuing people by their wealth, but you seem to be implicitly arguing for that).

No, because a wealthier person is not more likely to harm a wealthy person while speeding. Again, the harm is constant and does not depend on the speeder's wealth.
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