Where I live Uber have argued that they should be (and are) exempt from Passenger driving licensing laws, because their own vetting system is so much better than the one mandated by the government.
The Land Transport Safety Authority are having none of it though, and Uber drivers are being fined if they are caught operating without the right license.
Uber will be gone in a couple of years (here at least), as in most major markets there is an over supply of taxis, so Uber has no edge.
According to this Uber can't live with competition, so when the investors get sick of pouring money in with no chance of a return it's all over.
I'm not going to worry about Uber where I live, as there currently is a massive over supply of taxis, and according to this Uber can't survive if there is competition.
The barriers to entry in the taxi business are pretty low, so there will always be competition.
There are lots of cell phone markets with very limited competition, and the incumbents like it fine that way. The last thing they're going to agree to is Microsoft trying to muscle in.
About 10 years ago I used to sell printing supplies to a guy who had a pretty good business pressing (or burning maybe) CD's for bands directly, and he reckoned one of his customers was the most profitable band in the country*
They all had day jobs during the Winter and spent the Summer on the road, playing bluegrass at mostly country pubs and selling their CD's (also T-Shirts) at the door.
Every year a major label would offer them a contract, and every year they would tell the label the contract they were being offered was going to cost them money.
I can't for the life of me remember the name of the band. He did give me a copy of one of their discs, but I gave it away, because I don't like bluegrass.
I thought they had learned from their history of Apple copying failure after the S6, which had no micro-sd slot and sold poorly.
The problem Samsung (and all the other Android phone makers) have is that most people seem to want to buy an Android phone, so they figure out how much they want to spend, and compare features.
Samsung might find non-iPhone buyers really want a 3.5mm jack and so they go and buy an LG V10 as mentioned in this thread.
I wouldn't be worried about this anyway. Microsoft are just going through the motions with this.
Amazon and Google have put a bit of thought it, even if the idea is totally creepy if you really think about it, but Microsoft have just panicked (as they do) and announced a thing which won't work properly and no-one wants.
Actually, as I wrote that the thought came to me that maybe it's someone at Microsoft who remembers the days when if Microsoft announced their version of something that another company had already produced, the other companies' product died completely.
I mean those days are long gone, but it's a thought.
From what I understand Uber is pretty much finished in my country.
They decided that their vetting procedure is better than the Nation's passenger vehicle licensing requirements, so stopped requiring their drivers to have passenger vehicle licenses.
The Land Transport agency has put them straight there.
The are trying to operate in a very competitive environment (in my city) and if they're not cheaper than the current over supply of taxis, then they're not going to get much business.
The only time I've been in an Uber taxi, I asked the driver if he liked it and he said it was his last shift, as it didn't pay enough.
He was going to drive one of his cousin's taxis instead, it paid better.
Since the end of the Korean War (and probably before) Korea has been one of the most corrupt countries on Earth, that's one of the reasons they have Chaebols.
Now, all of a sudden Koreans are worrying about their elites paying each other off for favours? It's hardly a new thing and no-one important has been prosecuted over these sorts of deals before.
I saw two guards changing the money cassettes in an ATM in my local mall a couple of weeks ago, and I am quite pleased that I live in a country where they don't carry guns at all.
The article says that they were arrested after bank staff saw unusual transactions, which might be true, but I would be willing to bet a whole dollar that the police were onto them as soon as they arrived.
Four Romanians in New Zealand for a holiday? Yeah, right.
Thanks Qbertino for asking a sensible question, and brickhouse98 (you're mighty mighty, just letting it all hang out) for giving an informative answer.
God there are some stupid pointless flamewars on this site, and when I saw this article I hoped this thread might be an exception, but the first bunch of posts are all "Year of Linux on the desktop" crap and grammer Nazi nonsense.
There was a news piece just after the US election that our (New Zealand) immigration website had a huge spike in traffic from the US, and an extra 2,000 or so requests for information.
They also did the usual thing where they went out and found an American tourist who was prepared to say something nice about the place, (this is standard practice for the media here) but the guy they picked was also going to apply for residency.
We might get a few Yanks coming over, which would be nice.
Modern man doesn't need to be especially strong or fast or equipped to survive winter
Winter is an awful lot easier to survive if there is not 2 metres of snow on the ground, and the landscape swarming with huge hungry animals desperate for a feed.
Lots of places on Earth fit that description, so humans will be able to survive there fine.
Slashdot Mirror
The Land Transport Safety Authority are having none of it though, and Uber drivers are being fined if they are caught operating without the right license.
Uber will be gone in a couple of years (here at least), as in most major markets there is an over supply of taxis, so Uber has no edge.
According to this Uber can't live with competition, so when the investors get sick of pouring money in with no chance of a return it's all over.
The barriers to entry in the taxi business are pretty low, so there will always be competition.
The Supreme Court says so and they ought to know.
I could be wrong though, so don't take my legal advice as gospel.
These fees are just one way they have to claw those costs back.
Another method is having State Governments pass laws stopping cities and towns from operating their own networks in competition.
The major downside is that I can't resist playing, and seem to have borked DNS.
I'm not sold on "non-removeable" though
Neither will the cell carriers be.
There are lots of cell phone markets with very limited competition, and the incumbents like it fine that way. The last thing they're going to agree to is Microsoft trying to muscle in.
This won't be a winner for Microsoft.
Who's still selling CDs ?
About 10 years ago I used to sell printing supplies to a guy who had a pretty good business pressing (or burning maybe) CD's for bands directly, and he reckoned one of his customers was the most profitable band in the country*
They all had day jobs during the Winter and spent the Summer on the road, playing bluegrass at mostly country pubs and selling their CD's (also T-Shirts) at the door.
Every year a major label would offer them a contract, and every year they would tell the label the contract they were being offered was going to cost them money.
I can't for the life of me remember the name of the band. He did give me a copy of one of their discs, but I gave it away, because I don't like bluegrass.
* Not the US.
Thanks for that, now I know why the saxophone is the worst instrument ever. (Apart from the kazoo).
The problem Samsung (and all the other Android phone makers) have is that most people seem to want to buy an Android phone, so they figure out how much they want to spend, and compare features.
Samsung might find non-iPhone buyers really want a 3.5mm jack and so they go and buy an LG V10 as mentioned in this thread.
People who actually believe it are in the minority and are simpletons or mentally ill.
Who can own guns in North Carolina apparently.
Amazon and Google have put a bit of thought it, even if the idea is totally creepy if you really think about it, but Microsoft have just panicked (as they do) and announced a thing which won't work properly and no-one wants.
Actually, as I wrote that the thought came to me that maybe it's someone at Microsoft who remembers the days when if Microsoft announced their version of something that another company had already produced, the other companies' product died completely.
I mean those days are long gone, but it's a thought.
Not that I've heard. My friends in Christchurch are just sick of the whole thing really.
They decided that their vetting procedure is better than the Nation's passenger vehicle licensing requirements, so stopped requiring their drivers to have passenger vehicle licenses.
The Land Transport agency has put them straight there.
The are trying to operate in a very competitive environment (in my city) and if they're not cheaper than the current over supply of taxis, then they're not going to get much business.
The only time I've been in an Uber taxi, I asked the driver if he liked it and he said it was his last shift, as it didn't pay enough.
He was going to drive one of his cousin's taxis instead, it paid better.
Also everyone should come to my apartment to see my cats.
Pollsters are prepared to believe them.
The there's this guy, pardoned for multiple crimes so he could remain on the Olympic Committee.
When one of the crimes is bribing government officials, I guess a pardon is not too far away.
Since the end of the Korean War (and probably before) Korea has been one of the most corrupt countries on Earth, that's one of the reasons they have Chaebols.
Now, all of a sudden Koreans are worrying about their elites paying each other off for favours? It's hardly a new thing and no-one important has been prosecuted over these sorts of deals before.
I wonder what has changed?
I have an iPhone 6 that freezes too.
Also skimming still goes on
The article says that they were arrested after bank staff saw unusual transactions, which might be true, but I would be willing to bet a whole dollar that the police were onto them as soon as they arrived.
Four Romanians in New Zealand for a holiday? Yeah, right.
God there are some stupid pointless flamewars on this site, and when I saw this article I hoped this thread might be an exception, but the first bunch of posts are all "Year of Linux on the desktop" crap and grammer Nazi nonsense.
Then you two come along and start a real thread.
They also did the usual thing where they went out and found an American tourist who was prepared to say something nice about the place, (this is standard practice for the media here) but the guy they picked was also going to apply for residency.
We might get a few Yanks coming over, which would be nice.
Nobody sees them, so why bother?
My Aunt used to iron and fold everything she washed, including underwear and socks.
I asked her why she spent 4 or 5 hours ironing every Sunday, and she seemed to think it was the proper thing to do.
She was a lovely lady, and other than the weird laundry thing, very normal.
That was fun. I really enjoyed hearing that a couple of times, then I remembered how horrible dialup really was.
Modern man doesn't need to be especially strong or fast or equipped to survive winter
Winter is an awful lot easier to survive if there is not 2 metres of snow on the ground, and the landscape swarming with huge hungry animals desperate for a feed.
Lots of places on Earth fit that description, so humans will be able to survive there fine.