That Mercedes won't be so clean 10 years from now. It's not like they'll be able to sell a car, unless they lie about the fact that it was a Uber car. I suppose the odometer will give them away anyway. I take comfort in the fact that the cabs I have been in had customized washable seats and were clean. Can you say the same for your Mercedes? Are you absolutely sure no one has ever puked in it? Because if so that can't be cleaned out of a factory seat properly even if it is leather. Again, the car may look ok but is it, really?
By millions of people, I mean the population of entire cities, which will need to deal with the fallout of this. Do some homework please and find out what the industry was like before regulation. People making pennies, crowds of 50 cars clogging streets in front of hotels.
Uneducated people are bound to repeat the mistakes of history I guess.
I'm pretty sure there is not the same level of wealth in the taxi industry. Also, I am pretty sure the average child of a Taxi driver is not going to Harvard. By and large, these are the hard workers that the economy is supposed to be helping. Yet you want to crap all over them and give Uber the spoils.
Sure there is a market. If there was no market, then a taxi license would have no value. The fact that licenses do change hands, and change companies makes the market a fact. I've spoken to Taxi drivers that only had a piece of a car, but were working towards owning it one day. What becomes of the future they look forward to if they must compete with Uber? It's quite obvious they will have to become Uber or Lyft drivers to compete. Oops there goes your kids education. For what? So students can make some pocket cash?
Excuse me? Because I am on a technology site, and Uber uses technology, I should overlook the fact that they are breaking fucking laws? You think it is special that they are able to come up with an idea that makes money and that they are entitled it simply because they are the first people who are such dicks that they simply don't care about the millions of people they are hurting? Only an absulute narcissist wouldn't see how this doesn't end well for anyone but uber. And they aren't even obeying the law. I can think of a dozen laws I could ignore and thereby profit from.
So your argument is that it is good to have a market of several decentralized companies playing by a set of common rules..... like the current taxi industry?
I can't wait for Uber Air! So what if your pilot only has 100 flight hours instead of 1000. So what if the planes aren't regulated in their maintenance. Look how cheap it is!
People complain about taxi's denying riders because they are only taking short trips that aren't worth it.. How does Uber encourage drivers to take less profitable fares? What keeps Uber drivers from flocking to an area where they make more fare and totally ignoring areas where the fare is lower?
Commercial insurance, commercial licenses, safety shields, fresh brakes, steering controls, suspension, and control arms that are repaired as opposed to being stuffed with grease. In my locale, they have strobes on top of all the taxis to signal an emergency to other vehicles which seems like a real good idea.
You think brakes on a vehicle that is driven 24/7 are going to be good checked once a year? lol. Does uber even control the time the car spends on the road and how often it is inspected? For all I know, three uber drivers could share the same vehicle and have it going all the time. Passenger vehicles just aren't made for that without very careful care.
Why would an Uber driver not do these things? Money and denial are powerful motivators. If someone can't get it together enough to get a regular job, I have no reason to think they will have money left over at the end of the month for maintenance that isn't affecting their ratings.
If by artificially restricted, you mean a market in which everyone can make a fair product and still meet the public's requirement for availability and safety, then yes you are correct. They are creating an alternative to a safe and fair market.
Or you could only pay for cosmetic improvement to your vehicle but never any safety improvement. That would be the best game of all because people would rate you highly and it would save you money. Either way it is a loosing game for the customer, who will lose more as the game goes on. The only thing the customer gets is saving $5 or $10 per ride, which isn't really winning in the end.
You are very confused about how competition works in the real world. No company ever comes in spending more, whether it be on cleanliness or safety. Regulation is the only way to prevent a race to the bottom.
Because ten years down the road after Uber puts taxis out of business, there is no longer any incentive to remain clean or maintained. Now everyone is stuck with a crappy service more reminiscent of why regulations were put in place in the beginning.
Surely there are a great many people out there who develop both android and iPhone apps, along with the web site and server that they go with. I didn't think the 'solo programmer' was an uncommon thing.
The more complicated vehicle tech becomes, the more often I tend to want updates to fix the features that the vehicle has and to bring in new features. There is no way to get such updates. I can do it myself, in which case I may screw up my vehicle. The dealership can do it but they'll charge me $200+ for the update. I've updated the OS on my phone three times since I've had my vehicle but at least on my phone there is a procedure that I know will be safe if I follow it. Buying a feature rich vehicle is like buying a phone that will always be stuck in time, so I would rather just keep my phone my phone and my car my car.
I have one of those in dashboard hard drives in my vehicle for mp3s. Well the stupid thing doesn't arrange by track number, meaning that I can't take a cd of mp3s and listen to it that way. Apparently the new version of the firmware does it, but if I do it at my own risk I could destroy my whole entertainment system. The dealership will do it but they will charge an entire hour of time for it.
I don't know, I'm not part of the new-school where everything possible has to be done online. I spend 10 seconds in the dish soap aisle at the grocery store, because I have to be there for food anyway. Doing it the old way means I don't need all kinds of gadgets to run my life and is probably way more efficient.
In other words, people have become disgustingly lazy. God help us if there are robots that can feed people because some will loose the ability to do even that.
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That Mercedes won't be so clean 10 years from now. It's not like they'll be able to sell a car, unless they lie about the fact that it was a Uber car. I suppose the odometer will give them away anyway. I take comfort in the fact that the cabs I have been in had customized washable seats and were clean. Can you say the same for your Mercedes? Are you absolutely sure no one has ever puked in it? Because if so that can't be cleaned out of a factory seat properly even if it is leather. Again, the car may look ok but is it, really?
"Inside is dirty"? Do you kick the tires too?
By millions of people, I mean the population of entire cities, which will need to deal with the fallout of this. Do some homework please and find out what the industry was like before regulation. People making pennies, crowds of 50 cars clogging streets in front of hotels.
Uneducated people are bound to repeat the mistakes of history I guess.
I'm pretty sure there is not the same level of wealth in the taxi industry. Also, I am pretty sure the average child of a Taxi driver is not going to Harvard. By and large, these are the hard workers that the economy is supposed to be helping. Yet you want to crap all over them and give Uber the spoils.
Sorry, once you forgive one law, you have to forgive most of them. That is just not a price people should have to pay their careers for.
Sure there is a market. If there was no market, then a taxi license would have no value. The fact that licenses do change hands, and change companies makes the market a fact. I've spoken to Taxi drivers that only had a piece of a car, but were working towards owning it one day. What becomes of the future they look forward to if they must compete with Uber? It's quite obvious they will have to become Uber or Lyft drivers to compete. Oops there goes your kids education. For what? So students can make some pocket cash?
Excuse me? Because I am on a technology site, and Uber uses technology, I should overlook the fact that they are breaking fucking laws? You think it is special that they are able to come up with an idea that makes money and that they are entitled it simply because they are the first people who are such dicks that they simply don't care about the millions of people they are hurting? Only an absulute narcissist wouldn't see how this doesn't end well for anyone but uber. And they aren't even obeying the law. I can think of a dozen laws I could ignore and thereby profit from.
So your argument is that it is good to have a market of several decentralized companies playing by a set of common rules. .... like the current taxi industry?
I can't wait for Uber Air! So what if your pilot only has 100 flight hours instead of 1000. So what if the planes aren't regulated in their maintenance. Look how cheap it is!
Again the Uber shills are coming out.
People complain about taxi's denying riders because they are only taking short trips that aren't worth it.. How does Uber encourage drivers to take less profitable fares? What keeps Uber drivers from flocking to an area where they make more fare and totally ignoring areas where the fare is lower?
Commercial insurance, commercial licenses, safety shields, fresh brakes, steering controls, suspension, and control arms that are repaired as opposed to being stuffed with grease. In my locale, they have strobes on top of all the taxis to signal an emergency to other vehicles which seems like a real good idea.
You think brakes on a vehicle that is driven 24/7 are going to be good checked once a year? lol. Does uber even control the time the car spends on the road and how often it is inspected? For all I know, three uber drivers could share the same vehicle and have it going all the time. Passenger vehicles just aren't made for that without very careful care.
Why would an Uber driver not do these things? Money and denial are powerful motivators. If someone can't get it together enough to get a regular job, I have no reason to think they will have money left over at the end of the month for maintenance that isn't affecting their ratings.
If by artificially restricted, you mean a market in which everyone can make a fair product and still meet the public's requirement for availability and safety, then yes you are correct. They are creating an alternative to a safe and fair market.
Or you could only pay for cosmetic improvement to your vehicle but never any safety improvement. That would be the best game of all because people would rate you highly and it would save you money. Either way it is a loosing game for the customer, who will lose more as the game goes on. The only thing the customer gets is saving $5 or $10 per ride, which isn't really winning in the end.
You are very confused about how competition works in the real world. No company ever comes in spending more, whether it be on cleanliness or safety. Regulation is the only way to prevent a race to the bottom.
I find it real funny that you people don't think the rating system can be gamed.
Because ten years down the road after Uber puts taxis out of business, there is no longer any incentive to remain clean or maintained. Now everyone is stuck with a crappy service more reminiscent of why regulations were put in place in the beginning.
Right, so that makes them different things as per the support model.
All this tells me is that 57% are hacks. Ubuntu is a good enough OS for desktops, but servers are precisely where it should not be used.
If they are the same thing then why must one be licensed but not the other?
Surely there are a great many people out there who develop both android and iPhone apps, along with the web site and server that they go with. I didn't think the 'solo programmer' was an uncommon thing.
The more complicated vehicle tech becomes, the more often I tend to want updates to fix the features that the vehicle has and to bring in new features. There is no way to get such updates. I can do it myself, in which case I may screw up my vehicle. The dealership can do it but they'll charge me $200+ for the update. I've updated the OS on my phone three times since I've had my vehicle but at least on my phone there is a procedure that I know will be safe if I follow it. Buying a feature rich vehicle is like buying a phone that will always be stuck in time, so I would rather just keep my phone my phone and my car my car.
I have one of those in dashboard hard drives in my vehicle for mp3s. Well the stupid thing doesn't arrange by track number, meaning that I can't take a cd of mp3s and listen to it that way. Apparently the new version of the firmware does it, but if I do it at my own risk I could destroy my whole entertainment system. The dealership will do it but they will charge an entire hour of time for it.
I don't know, I'm not part of the new-school where everything possible has to be done online. I spend 10 seconds in the dish soap aisle at the grocery store, because I have to be there for food anyway. Doing it the old way means I don't need all kinds of gadgets to run my life and is probably way more efficient.
In other words, people have become disgustingly lazy. God help us if there are robots that can feed people because some will loose the ability to do even that.