5 ms·

It's actually build a better service, give each user subsidized (or free) rides so they get to experience how much better the new service is, then stop handing

by jfoster 11y ago

It's actually build a better service, give each user subsidized (or free) rides so they get to experience how much better the new service is, then stop handing out free rides like candy.

mattmanser 11y ago
You just said the same thing, but framed as a positive. Use VC money to put taxis out of business then jack up the price and let the service level plummet as cheap immigrants become the drivers.
- ectoplasm 11y ago
  Out of thousands of rides, 90% of the time I get an immigrant cab driver. I find they're perfectly capable.
  - phpmal 11y ago
    You are viewing it as a business that's flush with VC cash and assuming it will continue. When cable TV was installed in the UK - thanks to US investment - they dug up almost every pavement in towns and cities nationwide, call centres were local to their customers, the technicians were actual skilled employees who worked in teams of several people. Jump forward a decade or two. They are deeply in debt. Call centres are outsourced and often abroad. Technicians work for contractors and have nothing invested in the business they represent. If you live a few meters away from a cabled street then there's virtually no chance that they will hook you up.
- jfoster 11y ago
  What I mean is that they typically give each user their first few rides for free. It's much closer to being a free trial than it is to being a sudden price hike.
- jedrek 11y ago
  Uber doesn't have to put taxis out of business, it's growing the market - getting a lot more people using taxi-like services. Both people who aren't willing to shell out how much cabs charge in their artificially restricted markets and people who've had shitty experiences with cabs in the past. Not to mention how poor taxi service is in the vast majority of US cities. I personally use Uber because I hate calling a cab company, finding out it does or doesn't have a cab to send, figuring out the address I need it to come to, getting a very general estimate of when it'll be there (8-15 minutes), etc. With uber I drop the pin in the exact spot I want it, I know the minute my cab is there. If cab companies had an app like that, they'd have my business.
  - thinkmoore 11y ago
    All of the cab companies I use in Boston have exactly such and app. I'd be willing to bet the same is true in many cities.

by jfoster 11y ago

It's actually build a better service, give each user subsidized (or free) rides so they get to experience how much better the new service is, then stop handing out free rides like candy.

mattmanser 11y ago

You just said the same thing, but framed as a positive. Use VC money to put taxis out of business then jack up the price and let the service level plummet as cheap immigrants become the drivers.

ectoplasm 11y ago
Out of thousands of rides, 90% of the time I get an immigrant cab driver. I find they're perfectly capable.
- phpmal 11y ago
  You are viewing it as a business that's flush with VC cash and assuming it will continue. When cable TV was installed in the UK - thanks to US investment - they dug up almost every pavement in towns and cities nationwide, call centres were local to their customers, the technicians were actual skilled employees who worked in teams of several people. Jump forward a decade or two. They are deeply in debt. Call centres are outsourced and often abroad. Technicians work for contractors and have nothing invested in the business they represent. If you live a few meters away from a cabled street then there's virtually no chance that they will hook you up.
jfoster 11y ago
What I mean is that they typically give each user their first few rides for free. It's much closer to being a free trial than it is to being a sudden price hike.
jedrek 11y ago
Uber doesn't have to put taxis out of business, it's growing the market - getting a lot more people using taxi-like services. Both people who aren't willing to shell out how much cabs charge in their artificially restricted markets and people who've had shitty experiences with cabs in the past. Not to mention how poor taxi service is in the vast majority of US cities. I personally use Uber because I hate calling a cab company, finding out it does or doesn't have a cab to send, figuring out the address I need it to come to, getting a very general estimate of when it'll be there (8-15 minutes), etc. With uber I drop the pin in the exact spot I want it, I know the minute my cab is there. If cab companies had an app like that, they'd have my business.
- thinkmoore 11y ago
  All of the cab companies I use in Boston have exactly such and app. I'd be willing to bet the same is true in many cities.