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London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

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Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#3

So bending over backwards and making companies not follow the law is "stifling technology companies". As others have pointed out Uber could play by the rules if they wanted to.

Could they? Isn’t their whole business model using VC money to create predatory pricing and dominate everything? I think Uber is rotten as a premise, and when you take the bad behavior out, barring a sudden and miraculous breakthrough in automated automobiles, they’re not viable.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#4
I find it interesting that the article fails to mention the reason behind the bans. Perhaps they expect us to already know that it's due to problems with driver background checks. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Then again, if the argument is that in a pure libertarian system consumers would drive out bad actors like this, I'm not sure that this line of thinking would hold. The convenience of a cheap ride would seem to be worth the cost of the seemingly small chance that a user might be assaulted if the world worked this way.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#5
This article is stupid, Uber was not caught unawares and has been in repeated violation of several requirements for operating in London.

This isn't the end of some libertarian utopian dream of innovation, but rather uber's continued blatant disregard of local laws.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#6
post #3

So bending over backwards and making companies not follow the law is "stifling technology companies". As others have pointed out Uber could play by the rules if they wanted to.

Could they? Isn’t their whole business model using VC money to create predatory pricing and dominate everything? I think Uber is rotten as a premise, and when you take the bad behavior out, barring a sudden and miraculous breakthrough in automated automobiles, they’re not viable.

Yep, I have no idea how they have any customers with all the bad press they get.

The goal is to kill the competition and treat their drivers and customers like crap in doing so.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#7
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could they? Isn’t their whole business model using VC money to create predatory pricing and dominate everything? I think Uber is rotten as a premise, and when you take the bad behavior out, barring a sudden and miraculous breakthrough in automated automobiles, they’re not viable.

Yep, I have no idea how they have any customers with all the bad press they get. The goal is to kill the competition and treat their drivers and customers like crap in doing so.

They treat their customers very well, that's why they've been so successful.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#8
This same argument was made when Austin required fingerprinting for drivers and Uber and Lyft left.

What happened? Their was a flourishing of new ride share companies, including a local nonprofit, RideAustin. Yes, at first, these apps were nowhere near the level of Uber/Lyft, but they quickly improved, especially RideAustin. The prices were slightly higher, but it seemed those prices reflected the actual cost of the service without the VC subsidy.

I dread taking a taxi and I'm no friend of the formerly entrenched taxi companies, but this idea that making some sensible regulations that these multibillion dollar VC-subsidized tech companies need to follow is "anti-innovation" is BS.

Re: London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake

#9
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I have no idea how they have any customers with all the bad press they get. The goal is to kill the competition and treat their drivers and customers like crap in doing so.

They treat their customers very well, that's why they've been so successful.

Oh really? I gave up using Uber when I watched a ride go from $9 to $22, then back down to $12 after I killed the app and reopened it. Lyft pulls much the same shit, but killing and reopening will get me within a few cents of that initial $9 price.

Ultimately, it just means I set my life up such that neither Uber or Lyft can hold me hostage with insane spikes in pricing. Thus I bike and drive more than I'd like.

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