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(Your Job) Is a Video Game

Posted by timothy on from the but-you-get-not-extra-lives dept.

arctother writes: UberDRIVE—Uber's simulation/video game/recruiting tool—is, at best, just a poor copy of a much more interesting video game – driving for Uber. The main innovation of Uber, and other smartphone-enabled "e-hailing" car services, is the insertion of a new interface into the human-to-human, on-the-street interactions between drivers and passengers. Uber attempts to transform the cab-driving and -riding experience through the deployment of an allegorithm: the productive joining of a framing narrative (or "allegory") and software-mediated control (or "algorithm"). Understanding how allegorithms shape experience will become more and more important as they are increasingly deployed with mobile interfaces to reshape and "augment" social interactions. "Ingress," you are already thinking; but you should really think of "Uber."

4 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. 3rd submission from the same blog by WoOS · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is the third submission of "arctother" pointing to "taxicabsubjects.blogspot.com". Taking the the frequency of posts on that blog into account, about every third post there is seemingly slashdot material. One wonders whose blog that is.

  2. Terribly written synopsis by wired_parrot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The synopsis reads like a poorly written press release from an illiterate goat herder trying to promote his personal blog. Slashdot should be ashamed of putting this in its front page.

  3. Incomprehensible by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The summary sounds like it was written by a retarded monkey that had a stroke halfway through the paragraph. The blog post (not article) isn't any better.

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    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  4. Ridiculous by flopsquad · · Score: 4, Interesting

    1) Post something about Uber.
    1a) No, it doesn't have to be actual news or make any sense.
    2) Users will flock to the thread to wage holy war over government regulation and the legality of Uber's tactics.
    2a) Yes, even when TFS says absurd stuff like "allegorithm" and "driving in real life is actually a video game myeh."
    2b) Yes I'm serious, post whatever the hell you want. It can be the text from a Nigerian email scam, just be sure to insert the word "Uber" at least once.
    3) ???
    4) Profit!

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    Nothing posted to /. has ever been legal advice, including this.