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Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

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Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#51

Post by mikeash »

Pxtl wrote: post #32
mikeash wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, do you think all of those "X but on the internet " patents are good inventions worthy of 17 years of government protection? Because this is basically the same thing. Uber provides a service that has been around for centuries, it's just " on smartphones ". Is that really sufficiently unique to call other people who do it "a clone"?

To be fair, integrating the Ebay-style rating of sellers/drivers does stand out as an important distinction - making that a core part of their app is a bit disruptive. Not a huge deal and not all their competitors do it, but that's something you don't usually expect in that kind of car service.

I agree, and I don't want to make it sound like Uber isn't doing anything interesting or innovative. I just don't think that what they're doing is interesting or innovative enough that we should consider it all an original idea that others could "clone".

Taking smartphones and eBay-style ratings and integrating it into a smartphone app is great! But imitators, if they are "cloning" anything, are cloning eBay and car services, not Uber. The combination is extremely useful but ultimately nothing special.

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#52

Post by hbags »

AJ007 wrote: post #37
hristov wrote: post #34

That is not only morally wrong but it is flat out stupid. Uber is the leading firm in a growing market with network effects. They should be worried about growing as fast as possible first and above all and not about competition. The network effects will take care of the competition. The worst thing a company in a leadership position like Uber can do is take actions that acknowledge their competition. Even if they are…

Could these be sales people giving a per driver incentive? Or was it from the direction of a manager? If it was sales people, fire all of them. If it was a manager, fire him or her. Then issue a press release.

I sincerely doubt that a company as unethical to the bones as Uber would ever consider firing them.

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#53

Post by icebraining »

hristov wrote: post #34

That is not only morally wrong but it is flat out stupid. Uber is the leading firm in a growing market with network effects. They should be worried about growing as fast as possible first and above all and not about competition. The network effects will take care of the competition. The worst thing a company in a leadership position like Uber can do is take actions that acknowledge their competition. Even if they are…

The network effects will take care of the competition.

Will it? Why? Unlike social networks, I don't see why would Uber benefit particularly from network effects; it doesn't even have switching costs, since the consumer can use both concurrently.

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#54

Post by icebraining »

RockyMcNuts wrote: post #33

One man's dirty tricks is another man's free market - http://pando.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/ Who needs pesky Taxi and Limousine Commission busybodies to ensure people aren't arbitrarily blacklisted from being able to call a cab?

No one; higher fees due to state-enforced limited supply are more than enough to keep the poor from riding taxis.

"Nearly half of [NYC taxi] passengers have a household income of $100,000 or more a year." (2014 Taxicab Fact Book)

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#55

Post by nickpinkston »

icebraining wrote: post #53
hristov wrote: post #34

That is not only morally wrong but it is flat out stupid. Uber is the leading firm in a growing market with network effects. They should be worried about growing as fast as possible first and above all and not about competition. The network effects will take care of the competition. The worst thing a company in a leadership position like Uber can do is take actions that acknowledge their competition. Even if they are…

The network effects will take care of the competition. Will it? Why? Unlike social networks, I don't see why would Uber benefit particularly from network effects; it doesn't even have switching costs, since the consumer can use both concurrently.

And that's true for the riders and the drivers - the opposite of network effects. I think he meant economies of scale.

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#56

Post by xux »

potatolicious wrote: post #15
highace wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they saw the success Uber has experienced and wanted some of the pie?

Non-taxi on-call cars have existed for many, many decades before Uber. Especially in NYC where this article is relevant, car services are a dime a dozen and have been a regular part of city life for decades. The difference is between picking up your phone to get one vs. using your smartphone. Uber was first to market, but it's silly to pretend that without them it wouldn't have happened. That's like calling the Pizza…

So what? You can say that about any large tech companies.

Google wasn't the first search engine. Apple didn't make the first music player. Facebook wasn't the first social network.

Being unique doesn't matter a single bit. Only thing that matters is that people are using them. And that's the case with Uber. Judge however you will their shady tactics, but it's ridiculous to downplay their success based on that.

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#57

Post by yapcguy »

defen wrote: post #7

Between this and how they handled the girl who was killed by an Uber driver on New Year's Eve in San Francisco...my opinion of them has taken a decided turn for the worse in the past few weeks. And for both, I can't help but think that company culture is set from the top.

Sophia Liu. 6 years old. Killed by Uber driver.

At first Uber denied the driver worked for them. Then they admitted the driver was with them but he wasn't "working" because he didn't have a passenger.

In constrast, some news reports claim that the driver believes he was working for Uber because he was searching for fares at the time of the accident.

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#58

Post by yapcguy »

hbags wrote: post #52
AJ007 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could these be sales people giving a per driver incentive? Or was it from the direction of a manager? If it was sales people, fire all of them. If it was a manager, fire him or her. Then issue a press release.

I sincerely doubt that a company as unethical to the bones as Uber would ever consider firing them.

Shitty company employing shitty people.

"Uber Driver Allegedly Locks Passenger In Car, Gives Himself Five-Star Rating"

http://laist.com/2014/01/21/uber_driver_locks_passenger_in_c...

Re: Uber rival accuses car service of dirty tactics

#60

Post by yapcguy »

pmorici wrote: post #14

It's interesting that all these ride services are so aggressive about recruiting drivers. I looked into driving for them to make a few extra bucks and the one thing they could do to get a leg up on their competition is clarify the insurance situation. They all essentially claim that a driver's personal auto insurance is good enough and combined with the companies umbrella policy provides sufficient coverage. But then…

Maybe this will be resolved in a court of law.

Just in the past few weeks...

"Uber Driver Arrested in San Francisco Crash That Killed Girl"

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Uber-Driver-Arrested-in...

"Lyft Driver Hits Elderly Woman in San Francisco Crosswalk"

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Lyft-Driver-Hits-Elderl...

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