Uber. The bully business model.

[Exterous]

I just don't get how Uber is really anything special. Maybe I'm just not using it enough to care, but I can say that I've used both in various cities and they're shades of each other.

It's pretty city dependent. I've had lots of random issues with taxis - my favorite practice are the various sanctioned non-compete agreements taxis have with each other. "Oh you want to go to that address? Thats 2x fare as we aren't allowed to pick people up in that neighborhood"

Then the 'broken' meters or the 'card reader not working' claim that magically works when you say you don't have cash or a debit card (after they get pissed off at you. One guy yelled at me "Why you not carry cash?! You knew you get cab ride!"). I can see shades of eachother as they serve the same purpose but you're much less likely to get ripped off with one over the other

 

[pcslookout]

I've lived in South Korea and Thailand, and in both countries the cabs were clean. The drivers were courteous and in SK they never expect a tip. In Thailand, they expect tips especially if you're a fa-lang (foreigner). In SK, you can even use your credit card. Oh, and in both countries riding in a cab is cheap. Unlike here in NJ. And many of the cabs are filthy.

I know in SK, Uber has been outlawed. I know they have Uber black which still runs in SK. In Thailand, they are everywhere. It's only a matter of time before people get upset I guess. But for now, I think Uber is great.

Interesting.

 

[thrilling]

If you are going to shoot somebody, Uber getaway might not be the best option.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crim...-after-shooting-at-arlington-s-parks-mall.ece

 

[thrilling]

http://gizmodo.com/why-uber-is-losing-money-faster-than-any-tech-company-e-1785736918
Why Uber Is Losing Money Faster Than Any Tech Company Ever

The biggest cost to the company is the fee it pays out to drivers. According to the Bloomberg report, driver subsidies account for a majority of losses in the first half of 2016.
Hmmm. Driverless uber rides seems like it might be higher on their agenda they are letting on.

 

[Ns1]

http://gizmodo.com/why-uber-is-losing-money-faster-than-any-tech-company-e-1785736918
Why Uber Is Losing Money Faster Than Any Tech Company Ever

The biggest cost to the company is the fee it pays out to drivers. According to the Bloomberg report, driver subsidies account for a majority of losses in the first half of 2016.
Hmmm. Driverless uber rides seems like it might be higher on their agenda they are letting on.

Uber must subsidize > 50% of all pool rides.

 

[z1ggy]

I thought the point of Uber wasn't to eliminate taxi service, but to eliminate (most) people owning cars, since like 90% of a cars life is spent parked.

I must say, despite whomever thinks they are evil, it's quite a genius business model. All your assets are basically owned/leased by your contractors. Besides paying contractors, their liabilities must be extremely low, no?

 

[Ns1]

I thought the point of Uber wasn't to eliminate taxi service, but to eliminate (most) people owning cars, since like 90% of a cars life is spent parked.

 

[TheGardener]

Link, or can you give some more details?

Goes back more than 30 years. Those brain cells are dormant I guess, so cannot come up with the name of the company. Wiki didn't have it either. Last night over dinner, I did ask a couple tech old timers. They couldn't come up with a name either.

 

[z1ggy]

Well taxi services might go belly up, but cars as mass transit are here to stay. Our country is much too spread out and horrible planned to make mass public transit even a remote possibility except for a few major cities.

We ruined that ish about 80 years ago and haven't looked back since.

 

[Ns1]

Well taxi services might go belly up, but cars as mass transit are here to stay. Our country is much too spread out and horrible planned to make mass public transit even a remote possibility except for a few major cities.

We ruined that ish about 80 years ago and haven't looked back since.

For people that live in surburbia or rural areas I agree, but Uber can easily replace car ownership in dense urban areas with a low enough $/mile cost.

 

[z1ggy]

For people that live in surburbia or rural areas I agree, but Uber can easily replace car ownership in dense urban areas with a low enough $/mile cost.

Maybe. A lot of people who live in very dense population areas don't even have cars anyway. So replacing a taxi with an Uber, doesn't really do much.

All I've ever used it for is getting a ride when I'm drunk. I can't see taking one every day to work plus to the other random places I go.

 

[norseamd]

For people that live in surburbia or rural areas I agree, but Uber can easily replace car ownership in dense urban areas with a low enough $/mile cost.

Eh, thats just replacing the current taxi industry. Mass transit is so much more useful than car usage in urban areas.

 

[Midwayman]

Maybe. A lot of people who live in very dense population areas don't even have cars anyway. So replacing a taxi with an Uber, doesn't really do much.

All I've ever used it for is getting a ride when I'm drunk. I can't see taking one every day to work plus to the other random places I go.

FWIW once dedicated electric self driving taxis get here the cost per passenger mile is supposed to get below current public transit. So if you do live in an area with public transit and use it, uber could very well become an option for everyday random trips.

 

[Ns1]

Eh, thats just replacing the current taxi industry. Mass transit is so much more useful than car usage in urban areas.

In LA, an Uber Pool ride to the airport is cheaper than the mass transit options to the airport. So there's that...

 

[sontakke]

Goes back more than 30 years. Those brain cells are dormant I guess, so cannot come up with the name of the company. Wiki didn't have it either. Last night over dinner, I did ask a couple tech old timers. They couldn't come up with a name either.

Were you thinking of Wang?

 

[z1ggy]

FWIW once dedicated electric self driving taxis get here the cost per passenger mile is supposed to get below current public transit. So if you do live in an area with public transit and use it, uber could very well become an option for everyday random trips.

Yeah self driving cars are the way of the future. However, I'm not so certain they will be coming our way very soon for mainstream use. There will probably be extreme lobbying against it by the auto industry as a whole, not to mention the extreme infrastructure changes that need to take place to support it on a mass scale.

I'm in no way rooting against it, I'm just skeptical it will become mainstream in my life time. Maybe on a smaller scale like only for taxi service in 1 city, etc.

PS I just read Uber lost over 1 billion so far this year. What's going on there? Costs rising? People using the service less?

 

[sontakke]

When tipping point happens, the changes can no longer be stopped.

Historically, we can find many such examples where countless experts could not see technical breakthrough making a sea change in the world.

Tony Seba has few youtube videos where he shows photos of NYC Easter Sunday photos 13 years apart and the contrast is striking. He also points out AT&T's early estimate of cell phone penetration in 2000 to be off by 12 orders of magnitude!

 

[z1ggy]

There's also the whole "big brother" aspect to fully autonomous vehicles. And the fact that some people actually enjoy driving cars.

It also drives down competition among car makers. If people don't actually need to drive the car, why do they care about how fast it can go, or how it sounds (if it even has a gas engine) or how it handles. All speed limits would be obeyed, etc. The only things that would really matter were interior/exterior design & safety.

This is all assuming fully auto car though. My guess is there would be an optional "driver" mode where the person can still take over if they wanted.

 

[slag]

When tipping point happens, the changes can no longer be stopped.

Historically, we can find many such examples where countless experts could not see technical breakthrough making a sea change in the world.

Tony Seba has few youtube videos where he shows photos of NYC Easter Sunday photos 13 years apart and the contrast is striking. He also points out AT&T's early estimate of cell phone penetration in 2000 to be off by 12 orders of magnitude!

Have a link to these videos? I looked up Tony Seba and the titles are cryptic enough to not know what to look at.

 

[sontakke]

Here is an article based upon Tony Seba's presentation

http://mountaintownnews.net/2015/08/20/tony-sebas-startling-view-of-market-disruptions/

Here is the youtube presentation that I was talking about. He provides rational reasoning and previous data for his predictions. If your livelihood depends upon technology, you really need to hear him out. But it IS controversial and some of you are going to strongly disagree with him. Hopefully, we will get some intelligent discussion going.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

In LA, an Uber Pool ride to the airport is cheaper than the mass transit options to the airport. So there's that...

Cause LA mass transit is trash lol. Uber is prevalent in Paris but there are direct airport routes on their buses for 14 euro vs Uber for 30.

 

[TheGardener]

Were you thinking of Wang?

No. Wang lasted a lot longer and had a more diversified product line.

 

[TheGardener]

New York City is experiencing a surge in car accidents involving ride sharing cars. In two recent months this year, the city has seen 5 fatalities. There were just 7 in all of 2015. Other crashes have more than tripled in the last two years.

http://nypost.com/2016/08/25/avoid-car-services-if-you-want-to-survive-in-nyc/

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

New York City is experiencing a surge in car accidents involving ride sharing cars. In two recent months this year, the city has seen 5 fatalities. There were just 7 in all of 2015. Other crashes have more than tripled in the last two years.

http://nypost.com/2016/08/25/avoid-car-services-if-you-want-to-survive-in-nyc/

I didn't even bother clicking the link. The URL tells me the article is a waste of time -- /avoid-car-services-if-you-want-to-survive-in-nyc. Okay, a few people die out of how many rides over that 2 month period?

 

[TheGardener]

I didn't even bother clicking the link. The URL tells me the article is a waste of time -- /avoid-car-services-if-you-want-to-survive-in-nyc. Okay, a few people die out of how many rides over that 2 month period?

Up to you if you don't want to read the article. Just will say that never judge an article by the byline. Especially when it come to a tabloid.