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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

#351

Post by IshKebab »

krageon wrote: post #245
IshKebab wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait are you really suggesting that the Airbnb programmers thought "guys, we need to stop low-IQ people from using our site"?? That's crazy. > explicitly advertises that their methods can keep out "low-skilled workers" on "human fraud farms" Uhm yeah. They're trying to keep people from human fraud farms (who happen to be low-skilled workers) out. It's not a weird elitist conspiracy to keep all low-IQ people from soci…

> paranoid In this case one (excluding "human fraud farms") and the other (excluding people who would work, but currently don't work, at human fraud farms) are the same thing. Not at all paranoid, in other words :)

That's not what is paranoid. OP was suggesting that they are deliberately trying to keep low-IQ people out as part of some elitist plot, and this is simply the best way to do it.

Rather than the obvious boring reality which is that this is intended to keep low-skilled Indian captcha solvers out and as an unfortunate side effect also keeps low-IQ people out.

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

#352

Post by seattle_spring »

brianhorakh wrote: post #211

In the usa you can sue airbnb for ada accessibility compliance (this captcha spunds like an a obvious fail). all it takes to qualify tis feeling "embarrassed" by the way they treated you / or exparte. You can do this in small claims court on your own, or behalf of an organization that helps other disabled web users.

If it is indeed Arkose like other commenters are claiming, they offer audio and other a11y-complaint alternatives.

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

#354

Post by allisdust »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #186
dsnr wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I agree with your “opressive” high-IQ developers spin, but it’s clear that whoever implements this kind of captcha (even the not-so-challenging ones) doesn’t give a shit about user experience and deserve to metaphorically-speaking, burn in hell. I think it’s just an example for how developers should not make decisions about UI or UX in general. It doesn’t really matter how hard to solve the captcha is, it sh…

AirBNB doesn't want bots scraping their data. They currently have a monopoly on STR listings - so they don't really need to care about user experience. This is what you end up with.

It's a pointless war and their data is all over the place. With millions of residential IPs scraping data, its not possible to keep data in public and not get it scraped. All they are doing is making it worth someone's time to put it all together and provide a near realtime api for all the scraped data. Same goes for amazon and anyone who thinks they can protect their data.

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

#355

Post by slaw »

newsbinator wrote: post #289
slaw wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many times you can find the same place with search for apartments on booking.com. You will get full address and most of the times cheaper.

4 times out of 5 I find the price on booking.com to be 20% ~ 40% cheaper than the price on the place’s own website. Even when I call them for a price like booking.com (because I hate giving Booking my money), the place says the best price is on Booking and I should book there.

I compared booking.com to Airbnb. Booking.com is mostly cheaper. You can get cheaper if you are at reception desk and talk to owner. It means place to stay is not part of a chain. Or you are extending your stay at reception.

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

#356

Post by IMSAI8080 »

mafuy wrote: post #249
IMSAI8080 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having a bathroom shared between many strangers is exceptionally annoying. You have to queue for your turn to use the shower. If someone spends ages in their, well bad luck you're going to be late for work or no shower for you. Many people these days choose not to share a single bathroom even between family members, never mind trying to negotiate with your co-residents. Then how is this shared bathroom cleaned and by…

I disagree. These problems are true, but they can mostly be worked around. For instance, do you have to shower in the morning? - many people do not. They are not worse than other problems the affected people experience, I'm sure. The cost issue is less from the inventory and more from the space. Even just 2qm (quite small bathroom) more per unit adds up to a lot quickly. Personally, I hate to share a bathroom with ne…

The comment I was replying to presents a false choice. It's suggesting that people are sleeping on the streets due to the provision of quality accommodation and if only quality of housing could be made worse people would not be sleeping on the streets. What utter nonsense. You can provide people with housing AND make it decent.

A 2 square metre bathroom is too luxurious for you? How small a room are you suggesting should be provided to each individual in your view?

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

#357

Post by ct0 »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #186
dsnr wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I agree with your “opressive” high-IQ developers spin, but it’s clear that whoever implements this kind of captcha (even the not-so-challenging ones) doesn’t give a shit about user experience and deserve to metaphorically-speaking, burn in hell. I think it’s just an example for how developers should not make decisions about UI or UX in general. It doesn’t really matter how hard to solve the captcha is, it sh…

AirBNB doesn't want bots scraping their data. They currently have a monopoly on STR listings - so they don't really need to care about user experience. This is what you end up with.

Airbnb gives their data away. http://insideairbnb.com/get-the-data.html

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

#358

Post by GFischer »

bradstewart wrote: post #335
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirBNB doesn't want bots scraping their data. They currently have a monopoly on STR listings - so they don't really need to care about user experience. This is what you end up with.

They have a monopoly on STR listings? I use VRBO at least as often (probably more) than AirBnb.

VRBO made 2 billion in bookings, which is impressive but still less than one fourth of AirBnb.

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

#359

Post by drstewart »

imiric wrote: post #345
drstewart wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Look at Venice, which was a quaint little town nobody had ever heard of until Airbnb came long. As you correctly point out, without Airbnb excessive tourism wouldn't exist. It's so nice that I've been able to find a single villain to blame this problem on instead of talking about the broader housing crisis that leads to this, which is completely the fault of governments to address housing shortages due to in…

> Look at Venice, which was a quaint little town nobody had ever heard of until Airbnb came long. Venice, Italy? Arguably the most popular tourist destination in Italy for... decades? Centuries? Airbnb might've exploded this popularity, but Venice has always been Italy's Disneyland. > look at Miami Beach. It's banned Airbnbs and short term rentals, and now housing there is incredibly affordable and not the most expen…

I was being ironic on both counts: Venice was overcrowded long before Airbnb, and Miami Beach is incredibly expensive despite Airbnb.

The point is there are systemic issues of housing shortages - Airbnb is at best a manifestation of these symptoms, not a cause.

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

#360

Post by Grustaf »

vidarh wrote: post #336
Grustaf wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> expected standard The places you see on the market are not free housing, so it doesn't really say anything about what we are discussing. > entirely unacceptable to impose it on anyone This is just silly. Nobody wants to impose anything on anyone. We are talking about housing that is provided for free, I don't think anyone is proposing round up people and force them to live there.

> The places you see on the market are not free housing, so it doesn't really say anything about what we are discussing. They tell us what is the expected standard of housing. You're of course free to believe that poor people should be subjected to conditions most people opt out of, but to argue that this is not the expected standard in developed countries like the ones discussed is disingenuous given that this is de…

What you can “expect” when you pay the full price of something is not necessarily the same as what you should expect when you get something for free.

If you work in Norway you “expect” at least €2-3000 in monthtly salary, but few people argue that this is what you should expect in welfare if you don’t work.

Even in our social democratic paradise, the rule is usually that things you get through the welfare system, paid by taxpayers, should be adequate and humane, but not to the level of someone working full-time.

So those arguments are meaningless. Instead we have to ask if it is adequate, and most people would say that it is. Especially since so many people have lived like that as students.

If you’re not talking about free housing, then it’s just a market economics question, how could then anyone be opposed to more affordable housing? If you don’t like it, don’t rent it. But when someone says “we should do X for the poor”, they are usually talking about the welfare system.

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