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We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

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Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#121

Post by barry-cotter »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #15

Fully agree with this. It seems like so many of the apps that come to dominate just make up for shortcomings unique to the US that then, with money, take over the rest of the west for no good reason other than scale to get 25 people at the top of those companies rich. I’ve never seen the need for Uber. Taxis have never been an issue in the UK and the most successful firms in the city I lived when Uber was starting ou…

Taxis in Shanghai were terrible. They weren’t much better in Ireland. They didn’t stop for foreigners (in Shanghai). They refused to take you if they didn’t feel like going where you wanted to go after you flagged them down. Uber and its copycats made the world better by making the “regulators” irrelevant. Taking a good taxi experience from a thing in some cities in some countries to everywhere they operated was and is massive.

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#122

Post by iso1631 »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #15

Fully agree with this. It seems like so many of the apps that come to dominate just make up for shortcomings unique to the US that then, with money, take over the rest of the west for no good reason other than scale to get 25 people at the top of those companies rich. I’ve never seen the need for Uber. Taxis have never been an issue in the UK and the most successful firms in the city I lived when Uber was starting ou…

A big benefit of Uber is the fact it works in multiple cities. I was in a new UK city the other day, no idea where I'd get a cab from. Just opened Uber and booked one, and it worked.

Tried it again that evening and it failed -- multiple times the ride would be accepted, then cancelled. Ended up walking.

Looking at recent reviews for the Uber app it seems this is common, Uber has gone from being somewhere reliable I can get a cab, from Sydney to San Francisco to Singapore, to being something that can't be relied upon

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#123

Post by grecy »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #15

Fully agree with this. It seems like so many of the apps that come to dominate just make up for shortcomings unique to the US that then, with money, take over the rest of the west for no good reason other than scale to get 25 people at the top of those companies rich. I’ve never seen the need for Uber. Taxis have never been an issue in the UK and the most successful firms in the city I lived when Uber was starting ou…

> I’ve never seen the need for Uber

It's incredible spending time in the undeveloped/developing world - all the problems and solutions that "gig" apps supposedly are good for live on to this day all over the world.

Need a place to stay? Ask around the village and someone will be more than happy for you to sleep in the spare room for $1/night.

Need a ride? Wait where the locals are, you'll get in a communal "taxi" with locals for 10 or 20 cents to the next town.

In the Western World there are apps for this kind of thing that funnel profits to mega corporations. In the rest of the world there are average people on the street doing it every day as part of normal life.

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#124

Post by odiroot »

ChicagoDave wrote: post #104

The loss of innovation has zip to do with the Uber Economy. Try the fact that the middle class has been gutted by an unfair tax structure that shreds responsibility away from the wealthy and corporations and has created peripheral damage in high college cost and low public school expectations. Bring back the tax rate where people making over 540k (the 1980 equivalent of the top tax rate $225,000) pay 50% on anything…

> Try the fact that the middle class has been gutted by an unfair tax structure

> Our tax structure is insanely out of balance. That's the number one core problem in the United States.

This is actually even worse in many places in EU. I completely agree with your diagnosis and would also like to see your solution implemented.

I have an impression, taxation here in Europe is used as a political tool to play middle class and lower class against each other. And whatever the crisis, the middle class is expected to foot the bill. All the while, the powers that be use handouts to lower class to pacify them (prevent a revolution?)

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#125

Post by bsenftner »

bartread wrote: post #90
simonbarker87 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you were unlucky but I never had an issue at all in Essex growing up or Newcastle where I spent 15 years. Also Blueline taxis had an app before Uber gained market relevance in the UK and it was great.

Ditto: Panther in Cambridge have always been reliable for the 20 years I've lived in the area. Same with the Ely firms. Last time I tried to get an Uber in central London in the early hours of the morning two or three drivers cancelled before one eventually showed up after I'd phoned Uber support to complain. I'm not sure the phone call is what did the trick - in fact I'm pretty sure it wasn't - but what triggered th…

Uber actively modifies the earnings of their drivers in real time, which causes the drivers to modify their willingness to accept rides in real time. The reason those drivers are canceling is because between the time they accepted the ride and arriving to pick you up, Uber modified their earnings such that it was no longer profitable, or simply worth the effort to pick you up. Uber is a terrible "employer".

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#126

Post by iso1631 »

mike-cardwell wrote: post #49
simonbarker87 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would only take an Uber as a last resort - even the few occasions I’ve used one it was flaky. I’ve tried another few times but there was never a driver near but and the one who accepted just didn’t show up, carrier on driving around doing their own thing. If something was critical I would never use an Uber - I’d rather walk, or cycle if a traditional taxi wasn’t possible for some reason.

If that was a common experience, Uber wouldn't have grown to the size it has and we wouldn't be having this conversation. I don't doubt that you have had bad experiences with Uber, and also that other people have. But you would find it very hard to convince me that people have better experiences with non Uber taxis on average.

I used to have a great experience with Uber.

Looking at the app store reviews in the UK of Uber, sorted by most recent

1* - Lost my trust

1* - Has gone downhill

1* - Uber Scammed me

1* - Can't get an Uber anymore

1* - The worst experience I have ever had

2* - Uber is deteriorating

2* - waiting times have increased

3* - Cancelled rides

1* Deteriorated over lockdown

etc.

All referring to the same problems I see, rides accepted by drivers, then cancelled a minute or so later.

Going further back, full of 1/2 reviews:

A sad Decline, Slow at finding drivers, Getting worse by the day, Scheduled trips are canceleld, Getting worse & worse, Most unreliable, etc

Maybe the occasional 3* but going back 6 months, "Uber is dead, No Longer the no 1 ride in London, Drivers keep cancelling, Cannot get a booking, Never any drivers, Never turned up, 1 star is too much, used to be great", etc. etc, those were back to October.

I'm not sure how long it's been going on (the same complaints go back at least a year on the reviews), but Uber don't seem to exist any more, otherwise they'd be concerned and change something to fix it.

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#127

Post by jb1991 »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #4

My take on the productivity paradox is software is a form of literacy . We have put a pen and paper onto every desktop and every pocket but almost no-one can read or write. Edit: And those that can find that only a tiny fraction of the fold is written down (accessible through the virtual cyber world). Amazon's secret to success was forcing every service to live behind a "public" API.

People have lots of things in their homes that they’re not experts at or even knowledgeable of. Most people have a hammer and nail sitting around, that doesn’t mean they can build a piece of furniture or build a house. I’ve got all the tools to make bread, but I wouldn’t even know how to get started without some practice. And the list goes on. I also have a real pen and real paper, but that doesn’t mean I can write a novel.

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#128

Post by saos »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #15

Fully agree with this. It seems like so many of the apps that come to dominate just make up for shortcomings unique to the US that then, with money, take over the rest of the west for no good reason other than scale to get 25 people at the top of those companies rich. I’ve never seen the need for Uber. Taxis have never been an issue in the UK and the most successful firms in the city I lived when Uber was starting ou…

Taxis in the UK were awful before Uber

Re: We must return to an economy fueled by innovation, rather than disruption

#129

Post by coffeeblack »

ChicagoDave wrote: post #104

The loss of innovation has zip to do with the Uber Economy. Try the fact that the middle class has been gutted by an unfair tax structure that shreds responsibility away from the wealthy and corporations and has created peripheral damage in high college cost and low public school expectations. Bring back the tax rate where people making over 540k (the 1980 equivalent of the top tax rate $225,000) pay 50% on anything…

The current president had been holding a position of power in Washington for 50 years. Same is true for many other top politicians. As long as you vote in the same people over and over again, nothing will change.
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