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Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

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Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#91

Post by hessenwolf »

notJim wrote: post #55
mattdeboard wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sexy cars and pin-up girls have gone hand-in-hand for generations, and probably always will. Are you really outraged at the notion of dudes wanting to look at hot girls?

I believe your parent finds the notion of using objectification of women to rent cars distasteful. I know I do. Just as many find the Godaddy girls distasteful.

Yes - everybody is free to disagree with me, but I also got to that point in the article and their objectifications reduced my sympathy significantly. It just seemed trashy.

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#92

Post by beedogs »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #76
jackowayed wrote: post #11

I felt worse for these guys until I read to the end of the letter and found out about the "HiGear girls". It's not quite as bad as I thought because they don't seem to "rent out" these models like they do cars; I guess it was just a publicity thing. But still, having revealing pictures and even stats (measurements) of the women is pretty much the definition of objectification. FOLLOWUP (responding to comments): I'm n…

"having revealing pictures and even stats (measurements) of the women is pretty much the definition of objectification." Interesting. What do you think about the info on Eharmony, Match and other dating sites: age, height, athletic, curvy, this, that? Objectification?

So you've decided to pick the most incongruous example possible (dating websites) to undermine his point that a car-sharing site was objectifying women?

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#93

Post by [deleted] »

jackowayed wrote: post #11

I felt worse for these guys until I read to the end of the letter and found out about the "HiGear girls". It's not quite as bad as I thought because they don't seem to "rent out" these models like they do cars; I guess it was just a publicity thing. But still, having revealing pictures and even stats (measurements) of the women is pretty much the definition of objectification. FOLLOWUP (responding to comments): I'm n…

[deleted]

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#94

Post by usaar333 »

asanwal wrote: post #4

I was surprised by the founder spending time in his letter to users talking positively about other players in the space (RelayRides, GetAround) and why their car sharing models should still work. He didn't have to do this, but it struck me as a nice and unexpected gesture.

I've been considering renting my car out on those services (absolutely love the idea) and I do wonder what impact this will have on those two. There are some high-end cars on GetAround (I've seen at least an M3) and I imagine that people kicked out of HiGear may move to them.. creating the exact same problem.

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#95

Post by CamperBob »

dennisgorelik wrote: post #13
m0nastic wrote: post #5

That's sad to hear, but I think he's right to realize that it's going to be really hard to deal with losses when the auto theft community gets wind of their business. I am always amazed by the efficiency and technological prowess that the kids I grew up with who steal cars apply to their trade (even if I wish they were involved in a better trade). One kid I grew up with now has a ring of six guys working for him, pay…

The problem with running criminal business is that as soon as he tries to scale, he would inevitably and very seriously piss off lots of people. That would put extra pressure on law enforcement to catch the thieves and they would eventually be caught. Next step is several years in jail and close monitoring of the future crime activities. End result - the only expertise that he would gain over the years (in stealing)…

Next step is several years in jail and close monitoring of the future crime activities.

The real problem is the ridiculously lax penalties for car theft in many jurisdictions. In the Seattle, WA area, you basically don't even see the inside of a cell until your third or fourth conviction. (One news article I found at http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=200... contains a quote to the effect that a thief would have to be caught stealing up to seven cars before being punished with prison time.)

Given the lack of interest in auto theft on the part of the legislature, it's not surprising that such crimes don't arouse much interest on the part of law enforcement. As a result there are plenty of large metro areas where an organized auto theft ring could be quite profitable.

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#96

Post by usaar333 »

Shenglong wrote: post #88
jackowayed wrote: post #11

I felt worse for these guys until I read to the end of the letter and found out about the "HiGear girls". It's not quite as bad as I thought because they don't seem to "rent out" these models like they do cars; I guess it was just a publicity thing. But still, having revealing pictures and even stats (measurements) of the women is pretty much the definition of objectification. FOLLOWUP (responding to comments): I'm n…

it makes it harder for people to accept their own non-ideal bodies as beautiful That's because usually (if not always) non-ideal bodies are not beautiful. I feel like there's a giant disconnect between people like you (sweeping generalization, no offense intended) and people around me. You see a girl with some extra weight and you may think she should ignore it, and hop on a computer. Here, most (yes, most) of the gi…

(note: This is incredibly OT. I think it is perfectly reasonable for HiGear to have models on hand to use in the photo shoots with the cars. This just addresses social points of general objectification)

| You see a girl with some extra weight and you may think she should ignore it, and hop on a computer. Here, most (yes, most) of the girls go to the gym and exercise.

And few would argue that isn't a healthy behavior. I'm guessing GP is more concerned when women use potential harmful means to make themselves better looking (eating disorders, plastic surgery, etc.). That said even in most cases that is more just a manifestation of low self-esteem/confidence - which said women would show in other ways if society cared less about appearance.

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#97

Post by jermaink »

The services should act like Airbnb did when they experienced 'bad user behaviour'. Adding security/verification/security features (2nd degree FB connections, Twitter, camera shot, webcam shot...) and marketing them as a new core competency of the service. They did a bad press turnaround in less than 3 weeks.

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#98

Post by dennisgorelik »

oz wrote: post #83
dennisgorelik wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New place does not have to be better. It could be even worse. That could be part of the price of quitting criminal activity. The point of moving to new place is to eliminate all the ties with old life and gang members. But I guess even that is not necessary. I'm not expert on quitting gangs, but would assume that most gangs would not really force gang member on staying in the gang against the will of quitting gang me…

"New place does not have to be better. It could be even worse. That could be part of the price of quitting criminal activity." Great. So you move to some other depressed community, which will have all of what you were trying to escape. Only now you have no support network, nobody who's got your back. Guess what that's a recipe for? It's not as easy as you make it sound.

"Easy"?

Who promised you that improving life would be easy?

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#99

Post by luser001 »

sathishmanohar wrote: post #80
dennisgorelik wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same reason he launched his criminal business in the first place - to make some easy money.

I don't want to comment on all criminal business. I'm against murder, rape, kidnap and many other crimes. In my opinion prostitution and theft fall in the gray area. Risk-Reward balance in theft is probably the same as in every other risky business. The difference is barrier to entry is so low. That makes all the difference. Alright, I'll just say this, because I don't want to look like a guy who takes moral high-gro…

Ok, I'll bite. :)

   > In my opinion prostitution and theft fall in the gray area.
I'm really curious what about theft puts in the same gray area as prostitution.

One is the forced appropriation of another's labor, the other isn't.

Are you also ok with bank heists, dacoity on trains, white-collar crime/corruption (all are theft)? I'm really interested in your reasoning.

Re: Car-sharing service HiGear shuts down due to theft of 4 cars worth $400,000

#100

Post by [deleted] »

m0nastic wrote: post #23
dennisgorelik wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with running criminal business is that as soon as he tries to scale, he would inevitably and very seriously piss off lots of people. That would put extra pressure on law enforcement to catch the thieves and they would eventually be caught. Next step is several years in jail and close monitoring of the future crime activities. End result - the only expertise that he would gain over the years (in stealing)…

So, there are artificial constraints to the scalability of an operation like his. For starters, all territory is split up among the different crews who run them. That they do this democratically and unanimously without anyone muscling in on surrounding territory is something I've never quite figured out; but it's been working for forty years. That limitation on potential territory makes you maximize your resources in…

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