A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like • Hacker News Board

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#61

Post by conanbatt » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 5:33 PM UTC

jaredhansen wrote: post #41

conanbatt wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry but there a bunch of reasons to dislike Uber, from how they use the information they gather of you and your location, to all price manipulation it does with surge pricing. Surge pricing is so intransparent that Im 100% sure that has been gamed against the consumer and the drivers in favor of Uber. Not only that, Uber doesnt tell you how much it costs while its going which is also a huge disadvantage for the con…

Wait, what? I don't want to have a flamewar over Uber here, but most of this isn't even a little bit true: >surge pricing is so intransparent that Im 100% sure that has been gamed against the consumer and drivers in favor of Uber I guess this isn't "false" since you're just stating your belief, but if it's totally opaque to you, then how can you be so sure? I mean, OK, I guess, but... [citation needed]. >Uber doesn't…

> I guess this isn't "false" since you're just stating your belief, but if it's totally opaque to you, then how can you be so sure? I mean, OK, I guess, but... [citation needed].

You really think a for-profit company that doesn't have to or doesn't disclose the process to do surge pricing, having the knowledge and capacity to use surge pricing to maximize profit, will sacrifice profits in favour of the consumer?

Its opaque on Uber/Lyft, it's not opaque on taxis, so thats definitely a reason to dislike Uber(Sidecar does disclose prices before you get on the car)

> What? Yes it does - it tells you up front the multiple you'll pay, and even makes you manually type it in to confirm before your ride is started.

A multiple is not the same as the number you are going to pay. A multiple of what? I don't see a ticker like I do in a cab that tells me they are not gaming the numbers.

You say the driver gets the same 80%, but I dont know how much it cost me until I'm out of the car. If Uber tells me it cost me 10 dollars, and tells the driver that trip was billed 8 dollars for him, I would never know, and neither would the driver.

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#62

Post by conanbatt » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 5:36 PM UTC

scottfits wrote: post #31

conanbatt wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry but there a bunch of reasons to dislike Uber, from how they use the information they gather of you and your location, to all price manipulation it does with surge pricing. Surge pricing is so intransparent that Im 100% sure that has been gamed against the consumer and the drivers in favor of Uber. Not only that, Uber doesnt tell you how much it costs while its going which is also a huge disadvantage for the con…

Wait, Uber's surge pricing is actually very, very good for users because it increases the supply of cars especially at odd hours. If it's 2 AM and you need a ride, thanks to surge pricing, you might find some drivers up late. If you need a ride home from a crowded football game, you'll have to pay a bit more but you'll definitely get a ride soon. Without surge, you'd be waiting a while.

Sure, what we are missing in the middle is surge pricing when there are plenty of cabs around, and its done to earn more revenue, pay more to drivers, and stiff consumers.

Its specially confusing to try to guess if 25%+ Uber, 50%+ Lyft, Taxi prices are. At least if they all had the "N per ride, M per time or distance" you would be able to compare.

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#63

Post by jasode » Fri, Jul 24, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #60

jasode wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because one can type "Uber" into the HN search box and read all those threads. Look specifically at the angry posts and frequent rants. What is the recurring theme in all those angry posts? It is not about people wondering about trust . The nastiness is all about economic unfairness . "Trust" is orthogonal to "Economics". The authors essay is not a "solution" to the issues people are actually debating. Also, the spec…

The author doesn't need to address all problems at the same time. He's not missing anything just because he doesn't discuss what you and HN want to discuss.

As my other comment to the author states, his essay in isolation is fine.

The mismatch is that his article's content (which is ok) underdelivers on the title which it oversold as "a solution to Uber's problems".

In other words, I'm not asking for his article to solve all of Uber's issues and solve world hunger. I also have no desire to discuss Uber labor. My point is that the article doesn't match the title. A more accurate title could have been, "A solution to let NYC monitor freelance driving services". (Admittedly, that type of title wouldn't attract as many clicks.)

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#64

Post by ascribd » Mon, Jul 27, 2015, 3:43 AM UTC

jasode wrote: post #18

jessriedel wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've just brought up a second issue, partially related to the author's topic. I don't understand why you think the author's missing the point.

Because one can type "Uber" into the HN search box and read all those threads. Look specifically at the angry posts and frequent rants. What is the recurring theme in all those angry posts? It is not about people wondering about trust . The nastiness is all about economic unfairness . "Trust" is orthogonal to "Economics". The authors essay is not a "solution" to the issues people are actually debating. Also, the spec…

While the issues of economic unfairness and trust are both important, indeed weighty enough to merit much more substantive discussion, the issue that Nick Grossman is debating in the article is regulatory oversight. The same issue is expanded on in a recent a16z podcast.

http://a16z.com/2015/07/21/innovation-regulation-policy/

Re: A solution to the Uber and Airbnb problems that no one will like

#65

Post by ascribd » Mon, Jul 27, 2015, 3:52 AM UTC

norea-armozel wrote: post #6

I can see why no one would like this sort of regulatory scheme as it would put everyone's relevant data in the open. Everyone would be able to look at it whether you're the affected company or not. Effectively, it gives more data to competitors to figure out where a market is being underserved or underdeveloped which would mean existing firms would have to deal with potential losses of economic profit. Honestly, I pr…

The city argument is they need the data for several purposes, for example aggregate information for demand projections (Uber's own data shows it slows down Manhattan traffic 9 percent) as well as entity-specific information to track compliance with applicable laws and licensing (criminal record, etc.).

Airbnb and Uber are correct when they say they need to keep some information confidential. Cities have terrible records when it comes to this. Indeed, if you look across the pond to the UK, where the HMRC is building the next Big Brother all in the name of tax collection, one can only shudder when looking at their track record of securing large quantities of data.