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The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

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Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#51

Post by mistermann »

ForHackernews wrote: post #23
sedev wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a lot of "eventually." Uber is a software company that runs cabs, basically. Their competitors - the old school, that is - are cab companies who are now faced with the challenge of writing good software. The track record in general of industries where long-established players find that they have to become software companies and put out a polished product there, in addition to whatever they were already doing,…

Why couldn't some software company license out their app to cab companies? The Uber app is slick, but it's not exactly groundbreaking tech--somebody could clone it.

I'd suggest that perhaps the entrenched culture of traditional taxi companies is negative in so many ways that even with the best software they'd be at a disadvantage. Pure speculation of course, but from reading the article it doesn't seem that farfetched.

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#52

Post by Houshalter »

mistermann wrote: post #50
chiph wrote: post #32

One problem with the ride-sharing apps (Lyft and Uber) is insurance companies are now wise to them. I just got my renewal, and they specifically exclude coverage for vehicle damage, occupant injuries, pedestrian injuries, and pretty much everything else, should your vehicle be used in a ride-sharing program.

Perfectly reasonable in my opinion.

How? Are they more likely to get in accidents? And even so wouldn't that justify higher premiums, not complete exclusion?

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#53

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pbreit wrote: post #42
natrius wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm confused as to why Uber's justification matters. If surge pricing seems unjust to you, don't pay surge prices. Use a competitor, like taxis or your bike.

The "don't use it" argument drives me absolutely nuts. It's a terrible argument and extremely lazy.

Surge pricing does two things: it decreases demand ("don't use it" as you say) and increases supply (by encouraging more drivers to work). If demand is not decreased, e.g. by increasing costs ("don't use it"), then services will be denied ("can't use it") because you can't pull something out of nothing!

Given that you don't believe in the principle of supply and demand (or you think it is extremely lazy, as you said). How would you balance demand with supply in extreme situations? What is the non-lazy solution? I guess we could try:

* Force more drivers to drive at the normal price to match demand (the totalitarian approach)

* Ensure that there are enough drivers to meet peak demand through subsidies to get them through normal demand times.

What else am I missing here?

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#54

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Houshalter wrote: post #52
mistermann wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perfectly reasonable in my opinion.

How? Are they more likely to get in accidents? And even so wouldn't that justify higher premiums, not complete exclusion?

If you drive more, you are more likely to get into an accident. This is why taxi drivers have to pay more for insurance than commuters. They definitely should pay a higher premium (or a premium scaled to usage).

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#55

Post by tolmasky »

excitom wrote: post #2

Yeah, there's just that little price gouging problem during times of scarcity. I think they took a big PR hit when the cost of rides skyrocketed during recent storms. Old style regulated cab companies can't do that.

You have 10 cars and 20 customers that want them. If you think you can write a "who really needs it" algorithm that, I dunno, asks them if they're going to visit their sick grandmother and then has a human balance that against getting to class on time or something, then by all means make that product.

In the meanwhile, price is the way the rest of the world works.

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#56

Post by ebonfortress »

ericd wrote: post #28
ForHackernews wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why couldn't some software company license out their app to cab companies? The Uber app is slick, but it's not exactly groundbreaking tech--somebody could clone it.

This seems like a good business idea, but it would likely be fairly messy and hard to provide a uniformly good user experience. But I'm guessing that a lot of cab companies would pay for this software dispatch service, if you just sent them customers (perhaps according to bids they set?)

In Russia, a leading internet search provider rolled out an aggregator app, it's pretty good. There're multiple others as far as I remember.

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#57

Post by pbreit »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #53
pbreit wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "don't use it" argument drives me absolutely nuts. It's a terrible argument and extremely lazy.

Surge pricing does two things: it decreases demand ("don't use it" as you say) and increases supply (by encouraging more drivers to work). If demand is not decreased, e.g. by increasing costs ("don't use it"), then services will be denied ("can't use it") because you can't pull something out of nothing! Given that you don't believe in the principle of supply and demand (or you think it is extremely lazy, as you said)…

The phrase is normally used as an argument to "quit complaining". In fact, complaining is a perfectly valid behavior and a key way to influence other consumers as well as service providers.

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#58

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pbreit wrote: post #57
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surge pricing does two things: it decreases demand ("don't use it" as you say) and increases supply (by encouraging more drivers to work). If demand is not decreased, e.g. by increasing costs ("don't use it"), then services will be denied ("can't use it") because you can't pull something out of nothing! Given that you don't believe in the principle of supply and demand (or you think it is extremely lazy, as you said)…

The phrase is normally used as an argument to "quit complaining". In fact, complaining is a perfectly valid behavior and a key way to influence other consumers as well as service providers.

Complaining is fine. But until you can pull cars/drivers out of your butt, it doesn't do much to increase supply or lower demand.

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#59

Post by pbreit »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #58
pbreit wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phrase is normally used as an argument to "quit complaining". In fact, complaining is a perfectly valid behavior and a key way to influence other consumers as well as service providers.

Complaining is fine. But until you can pull cars/drivers out of your butt, it doesn't do much to increase supply or lower demand.

I don't mind surge pricing. I think ubers implementation can be very excessive. And I don't like that they don't scale down their commission or their smug attitude on the whole thing.

Re: The Black Car Company That People Love to Hate

#60

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pbreit wrote: post #59
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Complaining is fine. But until you can pull cars/drivers out of your butt, it doesn't do much to increase supply or lower demand.

I don't mind surge pricing. I think ubers implementation can be very excessive. And I don't like that they don't scale down their commission or their smug attitude on the whole thing.

Whenever it rains in Beijing, I deal with this problem with normal and black taxis. If the prices become too high, at least I can take the subway.
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