Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#541

Post by badwulf » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 8:51 PM UTC

azernik wrote: post #515

badwulf wrote: post #367

What do the people flying into the airport have to do with the Muslim ban? The taxi industry is sickening, they feel no empathy towards the people travelling, then why should I feel any empathy towards them? If angry taxi drivers want to do protests, there are ways to do it without harming innocent people travelling in. If they resort to such a thing, how can they claim moral high ground?

Because it's the biggest way to show power the taxi drivers have. This has always been the logic of the strike as a means of protest - sure, it's unfair, but its also the way labor politics works. And honestly, with a strike lasting only an hour, it feels much more symbolic than a real hardball days-long strike.

> This has always been the logic of the strike as a means of protest - sure, it's unfair, but its also the way labor politics works.

Except this has nothing to do with labour politics, the controversial "Muslim ban" had nothing to do with taxi laws. Using a labour union to push a political agenda is basically abuse of power. Imagine if pro-Trump police would start striking...

> And honestly, with a strike lasting only an hour, it feels much more symbolic than a real hardball days-long strike.

If you are visiting the US for the first time, you probably won't know that, and you might not even be able to get off the airport.

They could have had their protest in an area where people would have noticed them and in a way that does not harm innocent bystanders.

> Because it's the biggest way to show power the taxi drivers have.

Any amount of power they have, the state has more of it. The only way they can achieve something is if they get the public on their side.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#542

Post by Chyzwar » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 9:24 PM UTC

FeepingCreature wrote: post #496

Chyzwar wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is real risk when business mingle with politics. Both Musk and Uber should consider this before working with Trump. Thiel will be forever marked as Trump supporter and he saw it coming. As for your suggestion to work with bounds of reality it should apply to Trump. If he want to change immigration policy he can work with Congress to pass laws and regulations. His flashy actions are just for his silly supporters…

How does XKCD put it? > Fuck. That. Shit. https://xkcd.com/137/ What, you think it was only true when it was applied to people you like?

I would agree with XKCD in this case, being honest is liberating. I am just observer and I have strong opinions.

I like my wife, child and few friends. I do not care about Musk, Jobs, Jesus or any other created by PR icon that people put faith in.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#543

Post by general_ai » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 9:45 PM UTC

ubernostrum wrote: post #320

general_ai wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, a serious question wouldn't presuppose a particular answer. I think you've made up your mind long before you asked it. But I'll oblige anyway. Virtue signaling in this context means that actions of individuals are directed mostly at people within their political and social group, not outside it. Their main purpose is similar to that of a Facebook "like", to communicate adherence to a shared set of beliefs, not t…

Virtue signaling in this context means that actions of individuals are directed mostly at people within their political and social group, not outside it. Why is this a bad thing? Are you allowing for the possibility that it's easier to eventually sway outsiders if one first builds momentum with a significant group of like-minded people? Isn't it in fact very common to start by getting like-minded people to agree on a…

>> Why is it a bad thing?

Because it achieves NOTHING. If the goal is to help those affected, the ONLY way to do that is by engaging with the administration. The only way you can engage with this particular administration is by not shitting all over it no matter what it does. This is what Musk is attempting to do. What the protesters are doing is ACTIVELY HARMFUL to that goal, because it makes softening of the restrictions politically unfeasible.

On the other hand if the goal is to show each other how "progressive" you are, sure, go ahead and block the airports, burn effigies, beat and torture Trump supporters, etc. But don't act all surprised when this leads to nothing of consequence.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#544

Post by bradjohnson » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 10:11 PM UTC

nickpsecurity wrote: post #517

Nadya wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't believe there was ever a golden age of media but I do think they had more integrity in the past. I disagree. The bullshit was just harder to discover in the past - without internet and 10,000 independent sources stating contrary to whatever the media was trying to peddle. Media's job isn't to educate people. It's to educate people to see things "their" way which is where media bias, however major or slight,…

"I disagree. The bullshit was just harder to discover in the past - without internet and 10,000 independent sources stating contrary to whatever the media was trying to peddle." I think it's the opposite. The headlines, style, and bias made the bullshit more obvious in the past. Now, there can be 10,000 "independent" sources peddling the same person's bullshit. Media consolidation means many of the news sources all c…

>it's harder than ever for the average person to figure out what's true.

It's so much easier to find truth backed arguments with the internet, the average person can easily check sources. People are just mostly lazy and willing to let their biases inform what they will accept as true.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#545

Post by azernik » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 10:39 PM UTC

badwulf wrote: post #541

azernik wrote: post #515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's the biggest way to show power the taxi drivers have. This has always been the logic of the strike as a means of protest - sure, it's unfair, but its also the way labor politics works. And honestly, with a strike lasting only an hour, it feels much more symbolic than a real hardball days-long strike.

> This has always been the logic of the strike as a means of protest - sure, it's unfair, but its also the way labor politics works. Except this has nothing to do with labour politics, the controversial "Muslim ban" had nothing to do with taxi laws. Using a labour union to push a political agenda is basically abuse of power. Imagine if pro-Trump police would start striking... > And honestly, with a strike lasting onl…

Labor unions and labor movements push political non-labor agendas all the time. For example, general strikes led by labor movements are standard tools of nationalist and anti-colonial independence movements, and Western labor unions have gone on strike to demand better environmental policies.

>> Because it's the biggest way to show power the taxi drivers have.

> Any amount of power they have, the state has more of it. The only way they can achieve something is if they get the public on their side.

This is an argument over tactics, where I believe the left-wing outpouring of support has vindicated the decision to strike. They've drawn attention to their cause, and brought to mind a productive sector of the economy dominated by immigrants (particularly from the Middle East and South Asia). People are often persuaded by the depth of feeling shown by others, and strikes (since they damage your own income) are a good way of proving your dedication in a material way.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#546

Post by bradjohnson » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 10:42 PM UTC

Tritrin wrote: post #347

taneq wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore The problem with this approach is that unless you do it in a way that's relevant to the original issue, you're just dragging innocent people into your fight and victimizing them. Depending on how much of an asshat you are to them (like, say, stranding them for several hours a…

It was only 1 hour. Doesn't anyone ever protest in America? It feels like this concept is so new to you. Yes - some people might be less sympathetic, those are not the people the protest set out to influence. It's the people who haven't made up their minds yet, the people who think that "This will all blow over soon" and want to get on with their lives in their bubble. They NEED to be inconvenienced to react, to make…

It's not only to influence the people directly affected, it's also to generate news coverage which will get the greater population talking about the cause of the protest. Which is what is currently happening obviously.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#547

Post by bradjohnson » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 10:50 PM UTC

Meekro wrote: post #78

cdmckay wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the issue people have isn't the surge pricing so much as the fact that Uber didn't participate in the strike, and thus profited from it.

Lyft didn't participate either. Switching to them because of this strike is irrational.

It's not irrational. It might be unfair, but it sends the intended message.

If businesses associate pro-trump practices with a loss of revenue, this protest has been effective.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#548

Post by nickpsecurity » Tue, Jan 31, 2017, 11:39 PM UTC

bradjohnson wrote: post #544

nickpsecurity wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I disagree. The bullshit was just harder to discover in the past - without internet and 10,000 independent sources stating contrary to whatever the media was trying to peddle." I think it's the opposite. The headlines, style, and bias made the bullshit more obvious in the past. Now, there can be 10,000 "independent" sources peddling the same person's bullshit. Media consolidation means many of the news sources all c…

>it's harder than ever for the average person to figure out what's true. It's so much easier to find truth backed arguments with the internet, the average person can easily check sources. People are just mostly lazy and willing to let their biases inform what they will accept as true.

"People are just mostly lazy and willing to let their biases inform what they will accept as true."

Exactly. Combined with easier spread of misinformation, it makes things worse than it was before where easily-misinformed population in voting or demand side has massive influence on our lives.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#549

Post by azinman2 » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 12:21 AM UTC

FeepingCreature wrote: post #497

craigching wrote: post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to take sides, but how is spending $3 million to compensate their own drivers vs. $1 million going to the ACLU which benefits people other than Lyft's "employees" in any way equal?

Isn't what Uber has done better? At least for Uber drivers. They're standing by the people they're benefiting from, instead of an undirected donation. An analogy: a company has an oil spill, so they donate to Greenpeace.

It's clearly not undirected -- it's explicitly to fight in court the executive order as unconstitutional, which then applies to the entire US and not just their own tiny ecosystem.

Further, 3mil to their own drivers (which I haven't heard about but whatever) doesn't change US law -- so if their driver is booted out of the country, a few thousand dollars ain't much if you're thrown into a civil war or worse.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#550

Post by singleespresso » Wed, Feb 01, 2017, 12:45 AM UTC

omegaworks wrote: post #346

It will be most interesting to see whether Kalanick follows through with his promise to discuss the EO with Trump [0], and whether having a seat at Trump's shiny business table actually amounts to anything. If it does not, it proves that the council only serves as a prop to promote Trump. This administration is not beyond using cheap props for marketing purposes. [1] If the council holds no actual sway, Kalanick shou…

As an avid fan of Uber, I'm waiting for Kalanick's update this weekend. I'm hoping for at least a matching $1m donation to ACLU before using Uber again.