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'Uber Is Doomed', Argues Transportation Reporter (jalopnik.com)
When an Uber self-driving car ran a red light last year, they blamed and suspended the car's driver, even though it was the car's software that malfunctioned, according to two former employees, ultimately causing Uber cars to run six different red lights. But technical issues may be only the beginning. An anonymous reader writes:
Jalopnik points out that in 2016 Uber "burned through more than $2 billion, amid findings that rider fares only cover roughly 40% of a ride, with the remainder subsidized by venture capitalists" (covering even less than the fares of government-subsidized mass transit systems). So despite Google's lawsuit and other recent bad publicity, "even when those factors are removed, it's becoming more evident that Uber will collapse on its own."
Their long analysis argues that the problems are already becoming apparent. "Uber, which didn't respond to questions from Jalopnik about its viability, recently paid $20 million to settle claims that it grossly misled how much drivers could earn on Craigslist ads. The company's explosive growth also fundamentally required it to begin offering subprime auto loans to prospective drivers without a vehicle."
Last month transportation industry analyst Hubert Horan calculated that Uber Global's losses have been "substantially greater than any venture capital-funded startup in history."
Their long analysis argues that the problems are already becoming apparent. "Uber, which didn't respond to questions from Jalopnik about its viability, recently paid $20 million to settle claims that it grossly misled how much drivers could earn on Craigslist ads. The company's explosive growth also fundamentally required it to begin offering subprime auto loans to prospective drivers without a vehicle."
Last month transportation industry analyst Hubert Horan calculated that Uber Global's losses have been "substantially greater than any venture capital-funded startup in history."
...I dislike shitty journalism even more.
Honestly, I have zero (ZERO) faith in and respect for, journalists. That's not to say all journalists are terrible. It's that there are SO MANY bad ones claiming to be journalists, and "good" ones that allow businesses to throw away their sense of ethics to pay the mortgage. It's that the profession overall is dead-to-me until it decides to apologize and "Rebirth" itself from the ashes of clickbait.
Like, I don't even know to call "outing a gay manager of Google". It's not journalism. And I can't even think of a word that captures the level-of-offensiveness, and lack of perspective of what matters, in that kind of act. Ruin a man's (who isn't even a public figure) for AD-REVENUE?
And I'm not the only one. A gallup poll shows that ALL Americans are feeling this--even if not so consciously. A mere "32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media." Even less if you don't allow the 52% Democrat approval to scale up the average from the bottom of the barrel that the right-wing and independents think of the media.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/195...
And as a side note, when the hell did liberals stop caring about corporations? When did Starbucks become "okay"? When did 5 corporations owning over 90% of all US media become okay? (Thanks telecommunications act of 1995.) When I was raised as a "liberal", it meant dying for someone's right to say what was in their heart, and telling large corporations to go fuck themselves. I honestly have a hard time connecting the dots between my generation and the next.