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A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

nickgrossman.is

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Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#11

Post by Daishiman »

haberman wrote: post #7
Daishiman wrote: post #3

Ahh, yes, the Randian ideology of the self-regulating data-driven, no-bullshit enterprise, because governments are Big and Bad and will stifle the hardworking man in their attempts to do right for society.

Did you read the article? It's not about self-regulation. It's about government regulation based on real-time data provided by private enterprise.

Yes. There's no way a data-driven company would give out its crown jewels for regulation just like that. Hell if I had a data-driven company I would definitely not trust anyone with the secrecy of said data. And the receiving end of said data should have little reason to trust me either.

I think governments still have a lot to do as far as taking decisions based on collected data. However, we're slowly getting there. But the politics surrounding the data will still be around forever.

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#12

Post by jasode »

This essay has some interesting analysis contrasting the differences between the model of licensing/guild vs crowdsourced reviews.

However, analyzing that aspect misses the point.

The heated issues around Uber is economics and how the pieces of the pie are cut up. Explaining how new technologies allow a different trust model to emerge is irrelevant to the French taxi driver throwing bricks at Uber cars or DiBlasio's proposed cap to curb congestion.

In other words, this essay is more relevant to a potential passenger of Uber who wonders how he/she can trust a car that doesn't have a government medallion.

One needs to write a totally different type of essay to appeal to angry taxi drivers and angry politicians.

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#13

Post by afsina »

Daishiman wrote: post #3

Ahh, yes, the Randian ideology of the self-regulating data-driven, no-bullshit enterprise, because governments are Big and Bad and will stifle the hardworking man in their attempts to do right for society.

They sure doing better than Government regulation so far. What is your point behind sarcasm anyway?

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#14

Post by jessriedel »

jasode wrote: post #12

This essay has some interesting analysis contrasting the differences between the model of licensing/guild vs crowdsourced reviews. However, analyzing that aspect misses the point. The heated issues around Uber is economics and how the pieces of the pie are cut up. Explaining how new technologies allow a different trust model to emerge is irrelevant to the French taxi driver throwing bricks at Uber cars or DiBlasio's…

You've just brought up a second issue, partially related to the author's topic. I don't understand why you think the author's missing the point.

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#17

Post by danhak »

Uber's problems are not Airbnb's problems, and I find this continued trend of always mentioning the two in the same breath when it comes to regulation quite baffling.

Opposition to Uber is a clear case of regulatory capture. Every negative outcome that regulation is meant to mitigate (accountability, safety, reliability, discrimination, non-predatory pricing) is better served by Uber (and two-factor location tracking) than traditional cabs. I have not heard anybody raise compelling objections to Uber's model based on objective harm to consumers or market non-participants (negative externalities).

Airbnb's model, on the other hand, is rife with negative externalities. The most significant of these are the degradation of communities that were never meant to accommodate de facto hotels (noise, parking, transient traffic), and the drying up of affordable housing stock for people who actually intend to live in the homes they purchase.

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#18

Post by jasode »

jessriedel wrote: post #14
jasode wrote: post #12

This essay has some interesting analysis contrasting the differences between the model of licensing/guild vs crowdsourced reviews. However, analyzing that aspect misses the point. The heated issues around Uber is economics and how the pieces of the pie are cut up. Explaining how new technologies allow a different trust model to emerge is irrelevant to the French taxi driver throwing bricks at Uber cars or DiBlasio's…

You've just brought up a second issue, partially related to the author's topic. I don't understand why you think the author's missing the point.

Because one can type "Uber" into the HN search box and read all those threads. Look specifically at the angry posts and frequent rants.

What is the recurring theme in all those angry posts?

It is not about people wondering about trust. The nastiness is all about economic unfairness.

"Trust" is orthogonal to "Economics".

The authors essay is not a "solution" to the issues people are actually debating. Also, the specific issue with DiBlasio was congestion and vehicle caps and not "trust".

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#19

Post by fiatmoney »

norea-armozel wrote: post #4
DennisP wrote: post #2

I'm a little confused here. The article says Uber and Airbnb are quite effectively regulating themselves, and never bothers explaining why they're a problem.

The absence of any data to keep Uber and Airbnb accountable is the problem. The current regulatory climate effectively black boxes the entire situation. Uber can cut corners in legal grey areas because the governments have no clue what actually is going on said areas. If they did, then regulators would be able to act (fine, issue injunctions to stop service, and etc), but obviously they can't because of what I've men…

The fact that no one notices or cares when the regulations are broken strongly indicates the regulations have no useful effect.
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