[dead]
American Disruption
141–150 of 210 posts
Re: American Disruption
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
Taxis still exist and are still more expensive. You pay for them to use bus lanes in SF and so on. Uber prices are not beyond the competition.
Where I live, Uber is recognized as the high prices option. Once VCs stopped subsidizing rides prices went up and availability went down - it was a running joke for years that at DCA you’d see people waiting in line for 20 minutes to spend $20 more than hopping in a waiting cab.
Been burnt too often by american taxis that won't take cards or won't give receipts or have adverts on screens as you're travelling.
Re: American Disruption
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not exaggerated. Uber was losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year operating. That’s billions. I don’t know if I trust Ubers numbers on this. I don’t know what they’re counting as “cost per ride”. Does engineers salaries factor into that? What about data centers? Advertising? If you factor all of it in, then they’re losing billions.
> It’s not exaggerated. Uber was losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year operating. That’s billions. Well, yes. However, the impact of that on the ride cost is exaggerated. > Does engineers salaries factor into that? What about data centers? Advertising? Yes. > If you factor all of it in, then they’re losing billions. And when you divide it by the number of rides, you get into sub-$1 figures.
[deleted]
Re: American Disruption
#144[dead]
Thanks ChatGPT.
Re: American Disruption
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not exaggerated. Uber was losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year operating. That’s billions. I don’t know if I trust Ubers numbers on this. I don’t know what they’re counting as “cost per ride”. Does engineers salaries factor into that? What about data centers? Advertising? If you factor all of it in, then they’re losing billions.
> It’s not exaggerated. Uber was losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year operating. That’s billions. Well, yes. However, the impact of that on the ride cost is exaggerated. > Does engineers salaries factor into that? What about data centers? Advertising? Yes. > If you factor all of it in, then they’re losing billions. And when you divide it by the number of rides, you get into sub-$1 figures.
> Well, yes. However, the impact of that on the ride cost is exaggerated.
Yeah, because they’re losing the money. Meaning YOU’RE not paying it, it’s being lost.
Keep in mind this is also with:
- uber not providing the capital for their rides. Taxi companies buy taxis, uber says you buy it.
- vastly underpaying their work force.
- skirting employment laws with gig work
- relying on tips! The ride cost doesn’t include tips, despite that being a huge portion of wages!
Re: American Disruption
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
Behaving irrationally, intentionally or not, is scaring investors away rather than attracting them. Seen from abroad, trust in the rule of law and property rights has been eroded. Today Trump sends randos to El Salvador, maybe tomorrow he will nationalize enterprises or other assets, with no meaningful opposition from the Congress and the judiciary? Germany is already pulling gold from the US, that had been stored th…
Amazingly, this is exactly what Russia has been trying to do for years now: introduce chaos and uncertainty. Capitalism can handle bad news all day long, but it can't withstand prolonged unpredictability and ambiguity.
Meanwhile the price of the Ruble is skyrocketing since trump took office. Everything he does is a gift to Putin.
Re: American Disruption
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where I live, Uber is recognized as the high prices option. Once VCs stopped subsidizing rides prices went up and availability went down - it was a running joke for years that at DCA you’d see people waiting in line for 20 minutes to spend $20 more than hopping in a waiting cab.
Been burnt too often by american taxis that won't take cards or won't give receipts or have adverts on screens as you're travelling.
That’s not a problem here (they have an app, too) but it’s definitely valid for Uber to compete on better service. I am skeptical that they will be able to get the kind of returns which their investors want that way, however.
Re: American Disruption
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a big part of the tariff strategy You mean, a big part of one of the inconsistent explanations people are desperately theorizing, because they're too afraid of the simple answer... that there isn't any strategy at all? [Edit: Or, to be more precise, no strategy which is both (A) sane and (B) designed for America rather than for specific individuals.] > chaos in an effort to drive down the price of the 10-year bond…
> Instead, economic trust in the US--built up over decades--is being actively firebombed into the dirt by the new Republican regime. I think that's an important thing to reiterate. This isn't Trump. This isn't MAGA. This is the entire Republican Party apparatus that is allowing this to continue. The Republicans of the Nixon, Regan, Bush eras are long gone.
> This is the entire Republican Party
1000%.
The malfeasance from the executive branch could be curtailed almost immediately if there were responsible GOP reps in Congress. They're not powerless passengers on this train, they're actively shoveling coal into the steam engine.
Re: American Disruption
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
Been burnt too often by american taxis that won't take cards or won't give receipts or have adverts on screens as you're travelling.
That’s not a problem here (they have an app, too) but it’s definitely valid for Uber to compete on better service. I am skeptical that they will be able to get the kind of returns which their investors want that way, however.
I fly into a random city, say Denver.
I could start hunting around for a local taxi app, which may or may not work, may or may not have any cars
I could get in a waiting taxi at the airport, but then I run into issues with cash etc
I could use uber while I'm still collecting my bag and have a known car and known experience waiting for me
Re: American Disruption
#150Sure, but aren't we past rational debate on this point? Not only are the new trade policies irrational, it's quite possible that they're intentionally irrational as a bargaining or maneuvering tactic. We're not going to reason or argue our way out of this one. As I commented yesterday, there's a playbook for reshoring that's being totally ignored: First you invite industry to reshore via subsidies and preferential ac…
I think you actually _should_ assume that he's acting rationally, just that his motivations aren't aligned with what you think they should be. Trump has a mafia mentality, and the purpose of the tariffs has absolutely nothing to do with policy and everything to do with control. He wants to have a guillotine hanging over the head of every country and corporation that he can use at will, so that every CEO has to come t…
+1. Everyone else here seems to be in denial about that.