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Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

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Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#301

Post by mikem170 »

dorchadas wrote: post #222
tome wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you don't have to worry about taking housing away from the local residents Why not? Isn't the hotel taking up space that could otherwise be housing?

No, because it's zoned for being a hotel. What's happening with AirBnB is completely different as you're having people (1) buy up existing housing to convert it to AirBnB and (2) it's not zoned for tourists. Believe it or not, tourists are considered in city planning, and that's why they have special zoning laws for hotels and hostels. What's happening is tourists now feel they have the right to 'live as a local', an…

Couldn't you say that city planners are to blame for not providing enough supply to meet the demand?

Also, I wonder if maybe lots of people don't like existing hotels for some reason?

It seems the locals get forced out wherever demand vastly exceeds supply, like in the beach town where I used to live, where so many people want to visit and there just isn't enough housing/hotels for them. The locals are opposed to more housing, so inevitably prices goes up and they eventually turn into weekly rentals.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#302

Post by Bayart »

The single worst captcha I've ever had to this day was the « gift » of German hosting company 1&1, which managed to stonewall their customer support (I think) by putting it behind a captcha made exclusively of a string of the digit 1 and the lower case letter l in a font where they look nearly identical. I remember trying for an hour to get past it but never could. It left such a sour taste in my mouth that even 15 years later it's still engraved in my mind, and I refuse to ever do business with that company again.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#303

Post by whoknew1122 »

DominikPeters wrote: post #124

I see this as high-IQ software developers building systems to shut out non-high-IQ people from society. Managers look at these CAPTCHAs and think "oh I could solve these no problem, let's use them". In fact, they can only be solved by unusually smart people or by ML bots. Arkose Labs (the maker of this particular captcha) explicitly advertises that their methods can keep out "low-skilled workers" on "human fraud farm…

If I could only give more upvotes. I'm one of the few self-taught tech employees I've met at AWS. And I'm consistently told (during yearly reviews and casually) that my ability to communicate tech issues simply to both tech and non-tech people is my 'super power'.

Lots of CS grads who went immediately to a high-paid CS positions have no clue how to distill complex topics into jargon-free statements that are readily understood. And this lack of self-awareness (i.e. they don't understand that they're using specialized terms and/or skills) bleeds into everything they do.

I can see a bunch of engineers sitting in a review meeting all agreeing 'This is simple math. Let's do it!' Unless there's someone from a non-tech background in the meeting, there's unlikely to be someone saying 'Uh, our audience is people wanting a place to sleep. We shouldn't gate our service with math.'

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#304

Post by jb1991 »

lambic wrote: post #280
imiric wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would Airbnb be to blame for this? They're providing a market that fulfills demand for low cost or privately owned accommodations, competing directly with the established hotel industry. Not everyone wants or needs to stay in a hotel, and many people prefer the tourist experience facilitated by local hosts. Long-term rentals are also a convenient way to experience a location that doesn't involve complicated paper…

I have a friend who owns a condo in a building downtown that is almost empty of owner occupiers. The vast majority of the condos are rented out as airbnbs. She has no regular neighbours and most of the people she sees in the building are strangers. When it reaches that level, it is a problem.

It's a similar problem in neighborhoods that were not designed to be the center of tourism, no hotels, and homeowners had no intention of living next to "hotels", but if just a couple houses become full-time AirBnB all year, that is what happens -- everyone is now living next to hotels, and that spits in the face of neighborhood and those who chose to live there.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#305

Post by Grustaf »

vidarh wrote: post #285
mahathu wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not the case, in Europe, me and almost all of my peers (friends, coworkers) choose to live in flatshares. Renting a studio apartment wouldn't be much more expensive but it's just more fun living with other people :)

A proportion of young people sometimes do for limited periods, sure, but "almost all of your peers" do not change the fact that most people opt out of it, and even more opt out of sharing with strangers. Even with flat shares, there's a premium on flats with en suite bathrooms, because people tend to opt out of sharing if the price difference allow them to. Of course it's not the only thing people care about - a good…

The point is not that sharing bathrooms is neutral, the point is that if it's something that huge number of middle class people are happy to do while students or young professionals, it's pretty far from the human rights violation some people seem to think it is.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#306

Post by Grustaf »

vidarh wrote: post #284
Grustaf wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sharing bathrooms is not the same as "substandard accommodation". That's the point. You can (and do) build perfectly modern, clean, safe high standard living quarters with shared bathrooms. You can also find terrible slum apartments with private bathrooms.

You can . You wouldn't find buyers or renters without discounts far exceeding the cost savings, because it's seen as substandard, however. If anything, even places where space is extremely costly, one clear way of judging relative luxury level is the ratio of bathrooms to bedrooms.

"Substandard" is not the complement of "luxury". And nobody is saying that middle class people won't pay the extra cost of private bathrooms, clearly they are doing that. The point under discussion is if it's inhumane to give poor people free housing where they have to live like European middle class students and share bathrooms, and the answer is a very clear "no, it's not inhumane".

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#307

Post by lobocinza »

Dolores12 wrote: post #179
DominikPeters wrote: post #124

I see this as high-IQ software developers building systems to shut out non-high-IQ people from society. Managers look at these CAPTCHAs and think "oh I could solve these no problem, let's use them". In fact, they can only be solved by unusually smart people or by ML bots. Arkose Labs (the maker of this particular captcha) explicitly advertises that their methods can keep out "low-skilled workers" on "human fraud farm…

Proof of work. I wonder if these mental exercises do increase IQ.

They improve your ability of doing them.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#308

Post by taylorlunt »

jmkni wrote: post #167
DominikPeters wrote: post #124

I see this as high-IQ software developers building systems to shut out non-high-IQ people from society. Managers look at these CAPTCHAs and think "oh I could solve these no problem, let's use them". In fact, they can only be solved by unusually smart people or by ML bots. Arkose Labs (the maker of this particular captcha) explicitly advertises that their methods can keep out "low-skilled workers" on "human fraud farm…

I think you're flattering yourself a bit if you believe that being able to solve a CAPTCHA means you have an unusually high IQ

You've never spent much time around lower IQ people, I take it. The type of people who drive trucks, or bag groceries, and will never be able to do more than that. Good people, most of them, of course. But allergic to logical, deliberate thought, and barely capable of it when they try. Not everyone can do basic math, and many of those who can't, have no problem booking a hotel.

These CAPTCHAs require more thought than the platform otherwise does, therefore it will gate some people from using the platform.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#309

Post by taylorlunt »

jusssi wrote: post #206
Dolores12 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Proof of work. I wonder if these mental exercises do increase IQ.

At least you'll get better at solving that particular kind of problem. So if IQ is defined as your ability to solve that kind of problem, then yes, your IQ will increase.

It isn't.

Re: Tell HN: Airbnb just stole me 5 minutes of my time adding dices

#310

Post by Jxl180 »

postit wrote: post #88

That's the moment I'd recommend you to close the website and book a hotel. The whole pandemic reminded me I miss staying in hotels. Not having to worry about groceries, lunch, cleaning ... A great hotel experience turns your holiday into a holiday experience. The older I get the whole bnb experience feels like a premium stressful hostel.

You really can't compare. I've booked Airbnb for $99 for an entire week in a one bedroom apartment in a city where a single hotel room was $350/night.
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