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Uber CEO: We'll Run Your Errands
mpicpp writes with Uber's latest plans for expansion. The future of Uber is about pharmacies and rickshaws. So says CEO Travis Kalanick. One of several avenues for expansion is in a category of delivery that's about running errands. "In Los Angeles, we're doing something called Uber Fresh, which is you push a button and you get a lunch in five minutes," Kalanick told CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "In DC, we're doing Uber Corner Store. So imagine all the things you get at a corner store...FedEx isn't going to your nearest pharmacy and delivering something to you in five minutes," he continued. Another is in emerging markets, where the company may focus on rickshaws, rather than high-end black cars, Kalanick said.
So, they'll go to Subway, wait in line to be served, tell them what I want in my sub, pick up a bag of chips, fill the oversized cup with my choice of drink and then deliver it to me, all of that inside five minutes?
I'd rather wait for the McCopter to deliver my Big Mac and fries.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
And finding none.
Urban Fetch was this exact same idea in NYC, and it died a horrible death during the web 1.0 collapse. Does no one remember these things??
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Not like this won't be abused. I can see them getting pranked a lot with this idea.
I don't want to do a sig now
What's wrong with bringing a lunch to work or walking there, rather than "push button lunch/car emissions come out"
Looks like Uber is becoming the next Amazon by pursuing every possible angle to maintain growth while in search of nonexistent profits. Looking forward to the Uber Phone rollout.
Nope. The "this product cannot be resold" label will kill the service.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
I've been excited about alternatives to taxi service. I've lived and dealt with taxi's in Minneapolis, Seattle, San Francisco and Denver. Denver is not a big city and has poor taxi coverage. I went to a concert Sunday, August 30th planning to use them to get home. Uber announced a rate multiplier of 2.5 times that night (making them much more expensive than a taxi, to gain more drivers) after I was already at the show... Limited taxi service sucks and something else is needed. But I can't seem to rely on Uber. It feels to me that they don't understand their own business model. (Being price competitive with taxi services.) Watching them branch into other areas doesn't excite me very much when I can't rely on the one thing they're supposed to be good at.
Isn't this ultimately what this kind of service (d)evolves into?
We will, of course, run all your errands for you without gathering the data for marketing and other purposes; because doing that would be just too easy...
He took too many risks. For no good. NO GOOD! The pizza got cold. What a shame!
You can order say a meal from Burger King and they'll deliver for $5 might be more now as I've used it years ago. They'll pick up anything from the corner store. Was great on those super hang over Sundays.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Awwww, I wanted to do that one...
Hiro Protagonist will be an Uber driver.
Historically, governments justified the "certification" requirements imposed on people wishing to pursue various professions by the consumers' inability to share the information required to make an informed choice of a service provider.
For example, arriving to a new city, you don't know, what taxi company is decent and which hires serial rapists — the city hall should issue "medallions" to the good drivers and fight attempts by the non-vetted to provide the same services without paying the authorities their due.
Uber is showing, how the consumer feedback, that's easy to provide and is immediately available to anyone with a smart phone, obviates the need for such certifications — along with the associated costs and the abuse-potential. Taxi-services is not the only market, where things can (and should!) be changed by the pervasive smart-phones. Plumbers and electricians would be next on my list of professions, which should not require certifications (though some may seek approvals from non-governmental authorities like "Angie's List", if they choose to). Then restaurateurs — patrons could report roach-sightings just as well (or better) than a city's health-inspector. Then lawyers and eventually, even veterinarians and human doctors...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
bottom line: this Uber thing is competing with mules and drop bars.
Uber is showing, how the consumer feedback, that's easy to provide and is immediately available to anyone with a smart phone,
Right- anyone. That's exactly the problem. All you need to do to game the system as an Uber driver is put together a network of colluders to give you good reviews after you give them "rides". In the past, you only needed to find a few bad actors within the government- now literally anyone can help you with your racket.
Plumbers and electricians would be next on my list of professions, which should not require certifications
Prepare to be shocked.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Does that mean that we will soon have them in the US? Will Uber then lobby for more H1B visas since obviously no American is qualified for that job? ;)
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
They only walk dogs if the CEO gets The Flower of Forgetfulness. :-)
This is quite a piece of idolotry. Let us start at the end first. For many jobs no one requires a certified plumber or electrician or anything. There is no requirement to get such a certification. For certain jobs it is a requirement to get a permit, but that is to protect lives. OTOH I am sure you would no problem if your family died because the water heater exploded or the house caught on fire because of the work of a plumber or electrician was faulty, because, after all, she had good recommendations from people who had no expertise in critiquing the actual work. In any case, such requirements as the exists, are demanded not by government but by bankers, insurance companies, and general sane people who do not want to die because the invisible hand, or magic ratings, or whatever, was a substitute for competence. It is intersting that th.s hair brained scheme was introduced after the previous hair brained scheme, to force some Uber drivers to work at or below cost, failed. You see some of the driver took the capitalistic idea of better service leading to more profits seriously,So they only wanted to serve the high end clientele, and invested resources to do so. But Uber told them they could not limit themselves to high end customers, and said if the drivers did not pick up any customer that Uber sent, they would be out of the network. This was absolutely Uber's right to do, after all the contractors could just leave, but I think it speaks to an issue with capitalistic fantasy. At some point the people who are taking a cut of everything the workers do, will want an increasingly large cut to support their increasingly inefficient operations, and to do that they will begin to compete on price instead of service. The contractors, as individuals, can make that choice on a case by case basis. Corporate, however, seeing only a lack of funding for their cocaine habit, are only able to make drastic decisions to increase funding for said habit. In any case, the Uber drivers still had the ability to strike, so they did, and Uber relented.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
To be fair, both Uber and Amazon don't *want* to have people working for them in absolutely horrible conditions for little pay. On the contrary, they'd like to eliminate those positions entirely and automate everything. Which really doesn't bode any better for local service people.
OTOH, this shouldn't be a surprise. The computer geeks have already put many, many typists, calculators (people, not boxes), secretaries, drafters, and similar people out of business just as the industrial revolution put many laborers out of a job. Do you really think that self-checkouts and ATMs have increased the number of employees in checkers/teller positions?
Taxi drivers are not going to be happy about self-driving cars, and though it's not possible now, it will be in the future. The bar on what can and can't be done automatically raises each year. Those close to the line need to see the writing. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have already been passed by the line and will never / can never catch up to it. It's going to make for a very bumpy ride over the next half a century.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Everything has a price, and if the buyer and seller come to an agreement then it's worth it. If you're a lawyer making $350/hr and you decide that it's worth $20 to have someone hand deliver your lunch instead of you going out and getting it, is that okay? If you're a driver getting 5 of those orders and hour and are grossing $100/hr, is that okay? What if you're just having a shitty day and $20 means getting a meal you *really* want without having to go out in the rain. You don't have to be rich to be lazy every once in a while.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Seriously. April Fools come early? Or Late?
Rickshaws were outlawed in China ages ago, because it's a um....very demeaning method of transportation (not that there aren't tons of other demeaning things going on). You may as well strap a pipe and plaid top hat on to match your monocle while riding around in a f'n rickshaw, shouting "Good DAY, kind sir, good DAY" and "Jolly ho".
You have strong faith in an ideal free market. As one can see from the "Perfect Competition" entry in wikipedia, an imporant assumption of ideal free market is perfect information - All consumers and producers are assumed to have perfect knowledge of price, utility, quality and production methods of products. However, perfect information is never possible in the real world. While improvement in consumers' ability to share information would improve spreading of some information, many kind of information remain asymmetric. Some information are asymmetric because a producer or supplier always has more information than a consumer. For relatively simple jobs like taxi driving, the information advantage of the supplier is not very big. But for more specialize job that requires years of training, a supplier have much more information than a customer. Without certification from a professional body, it would be very difficult for consumers to judge if a supplier is competent or not, unless the consumers themselves undergo years of training to become experts themselves.
Historically, governments justified the "certification" requirements imposed on people wishing to pursue various professions by the consumers' inability to share the information required to make an informed choice of a service provider.
For example, arriving to a new city, you don't know, what taxi company is decent and which hires serial rapists — the city hall should issue "medallions" to the good drivers and fight attempts by the non-vetted to provide the same services without paying the authorities their due.
Uber is showing, how the consumer feedback, that's easy to provide and is immediately available to anyone with a smart phone, obviates the need for such certifications — along with the associated costs and the abuse-potential.
Unfortunately, somebody will have to be the first person to write the "Woke up in the morning upside down in a ditch with my pants missing. Would not use again." review.
In Europe and Asia there are already services like this.
Random example of such service in Geneva, Switzerland.
Pharmacies also operate their own such services (it's a popular job for high-schoolers to earn a few bucks).
Plus there is generally a delivery charge (or the restaurant gives up a cut). If each delivery is $5, zipping around from house to house would be a very good job if it's organized correctly.
And, unlike taxi service, can also be achieved with much lighter transportation vehicle (said drug-delivering high-schooler tend to do it with their motocycle scooter, e-bike, etc. also because it's easier to get a license for it) which overall can potentially lower emission and lower traffic in dense cities.
(well at least here in Europe where bikes, e-bikes, light motorcycle, etc. are very popular... in gaz-gurgling-SUV-land, well, YMMV).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
car emissions come out
Now, regarding the CO2 emissions, this might be solved by using a lighter vehicle for such errends.
To transport a few clients and their suit-cases to the airport, yes, a Uber driver needs a big-enough car.
BUT!
To carry and drop around a few lunchboxes or pharmacy bags, a Smart car, a motorcycle scooter or an e-bike is pretty well enough.
(Also european cities tend to have separate lanes for bikes, meaning that the Uber driver can bring your delivery while avoiding traffic jams).
Now on the other side, there are health benefits in taking a break and walking a bit to pick up your food.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Joking aside, cycle riskshaw *are* present in the occident.
Specially after the rise of e-bikes, they are all the crase in European big cities.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
How exactly would you do it? Are they going to be friends of yours? Will you be giving them good rides, while robbing others? And you'll still be a single bad driver of the Uber's "stable" of millions...
An entrenched incumbent — such as a health-inspector or taxi commissioner — is much harder to dislodge from government, than your imaginary bad driver would be. And what incentive will the government have of even attempting such dislodging? Only the general distaste for corruption — hardly a powerful force, unfortunately. On contrast, Uber's entire business is staked on the quality of the reviews so they are far more likely to keep their system functioning well.
You are yet to explain, how the racket would work: what exactly will the incentive be for the fraudulent reviewers... Remember, you can only give a review to a driver, if you've driven with him — and paid him (and Uber) real money. And the driver must maintain his rating above 4.3 — or he gets thrown out. So three upset passengers giving the "racketeer" 1-star reviews will negate ten 5-star responses from his buddies (53/13 = 4.07)...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Where I live (NJ), all electrical work must be done by a licensed electrician — nobody else would simply be issued a permit.
Yes, sure. The benevolent government bureaucrats in their omniscient wisdom just have higher concern for my life, than I do myself...
That would be great, if it were true. It is not. The work must be accepted by the city's employee, who is not personally responsible for it anyway — the installer is. The inspector may — depending on his disposition that day and his general opinion of the house-owner and the installer (their origins, religion, race, personal hygiene) — choose to overlook something fairly important, or make an issue of nothing just to delay the work and the family's moving-in. There is no oversight, no (meaningful) way to appeal, and no alternative.
So, you are suggesting, the work of certain professions simply can not be reviewed by the actual consumers — and the sole available fount of the necessary expertise, in your opinion, are the above-mentioned government workers — who do not even have any skin of their own in the game.
And, in a typically Illiberal fashion, you want to impose your opinion on the rest of us — instead of simply allowing people, who are as concerned as you claim to be, to hire independent inspectors — or relying on their insurance companies (or the morgage-holding banks) to hire them (the way they already hire various appraisers). At least, the insurer risks (substantial) money, if your house blows. On the other hand, if the insurer gets overzealous (as numerous building inspectors do), you can switch the insurer. You'll have a choice, in other words — without selling your house and moving to another town.
What "fantasy"? It works exactly the way Capitalism is supposed to — a moment Uber slips-up, various competitors (GetT, Lyft, others) will pick up the disgruntled drivers — many of them are already signed with all of these companies anyway.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Unfortunately, nothing prevents just the same from happening with regular taxis — you've surrendered an essential liberty (of hiring whoever you want) in exchange for security and, predictably, lost both. It will just be less likely to happen with Uber — because the company's entire business is staked on the quality of the reviews (and drivers).
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
It is based on trial and error today. Ever heard of hospital interns? Or student-dentists — working under supervision of seasoned doctors (supposedly) — people agree to be treated by them in exchange for steep discounts. This risk/cost balancing can — and should — be left to individuals, if they are as free as the citizens of this country like to fancy themselves.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
The growing proliferation of smart phones perfects the information access to the degree, where various governmental certifications are no longer necessary.
The professional body itself need not be governmental. A consumer may not be able to judge the quality of electrical work, but comparing certification authorities is much easier. It will never be perfect, but it is unlikely to be worse than the current situation.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.