5 ms·

Can't help but think of the obvious time and time again with the faux-sharing economy. Sharing is a pathetic use of neural linguistics, you're not sharing, your

Can't help but think of the obvious time and time again with the faux-sharing economy. Sharing is a pathetic use of neural linguistics, you're not sharing, your not doing anyone a kindness, you're making money and you're providing a service. Uber and Airbnb will be regulated legislative or through unions. Ask yourself just wtf are cabs so much more inefficient than Uber and hotels more expensive then Airbnb? Few drivers depend completely on Uber for their income, Airbnb is still on a legal gray zone. This won't last forever. Uber drivers will unionise, tenants who live around Airbnb hosts will pressure the government for legislation and so will hotel providers. Uber is pivoting to logistics. What's Airbnb doing? Wouldn't surprise me if they soon build their own hotel.

mc32 10y ago
My recollection might be off, but I think the term was popularized by the tech press not so much the tech companies described as such. However, the argument can be made that the sharing, while not in the classical sense, does reduce the impact on resources through efficiencies. So in that sense, people are sharing resources (as in sharing a bus ride --you both pay) and making less impact on earth's resources. Small cab companies in that sense were more inefficient, among other things, because an idle car (one without a medallion) could be put to use to taxi people around. Same for AB&B. People arguably maximize the use of a house --by renting their spare rooms (the use case has morphed since inception, granted). I think you can see where this model, whatever it's called makes more efficient use of our resources.
- r00fus 10y ago
  Tech press? Where do these outfits get their talking points? Hint: http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html?ref=ep http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html?ref=ep
  - mc32 10y ago
    They don't have to take it and run with it. Obviously the problem is with their editorial integrity. Never the less, we can look beyond the words and discuss the actual things.
- wool_gather 10y ago
  This is true given that ride sharing is actually displacing under-used personal vehicles (and/or taxis), and not higher-efficiency public transit, or other alternatives. (Suzie goes across town to a bar every Friday night now because she can take an Uber. She used to just walk up the street to the one near her house.) I don't know whether it is or not (and I assume the answer is different in different places), but it bears mentioning.
- collyw 10y ago
  I would argue that Airbnb is doing the opposite. Using residential housing for tourists, reducing the supply, when perfectly good hotels are available.
  - meric 10y ago
    The hotels's profitability will reduce, and the marginally profitable ones will be converted into apartments, increasing residential supply.
    - Naritai 10y ago
      To avoid being laughed out of the room, you'll have to prove that the growth in residences due to hotel closures is greater than the loss of residences due to AirBNB.
      - meric 10y ago
        Let me clarify, the increase in housing supply is a reaction towards an increase in AirBNB's and may not cancel out the decrease in housing supply due to those AirBNB's. I made the comment to say the decrease in long term residences is not as great as the number of residences allocated as AirBNB's. One hotel converted into condominiums create 1100 residences,[1] out of < 30000 AirBNB rentals in NYC. It's such a "problem" the council wanted to ban it. [3] [1] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/waldorf-astoria-hotel-to-be-gutted-up-to-1100-rooms-turned-into-condos-2016-06-27 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/waldorf-astoria-hotel-to-be... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11992112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11992112 [3] http://nypost.com/2015/05/11/council-plan-would-limit-changing-hotels-into-apartments/ http://nypost.com/2015/05/11/council-plan-would-limit-changi...
        collyw 10y ago
        Yet, this study says that NY housing stock is down 10% down to Airbnb. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/27/airbnb-new-york-city-housing-stock-reduction-study https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/27/airbnb-new-y...
freyr 10y ago
> [why] are cabs so much more inefficient than Uber...? Few drivers depend completely on Uber for their income Also, few cab companies subsidize rides with borrowed money in the name of growth.
spikels 10y ago
Sharing may not be the best name but there is clearly value to be gained by using valuable assets like cars, housing and spare time more intensively. What's fundamentally wrong with this?
- bobthepanda 10y ago
  Housing has the issue that someone who is there for a few days at most does not really have any incentive to care about their neighbors or the property they are staying in. Most people would not buy an apartment next to a hotel room.
  - wvenable 10y ago
    My co-worker rents a condo on VRBO and the condo board is perfectly fine with the short-term renters as they have far more trouble with long-term renters. The real issue is how much real estate isn't available for long term renters because short term rentals are so much more profitable and easy. It's killer on vacancy rates and drives up rents for everyone.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - matthewowen 10y ago
      I'm sure the condo board is fine: short term renters are probably less demanding in terms of services provided by the condo board. I suspect the buildings fellow residents might differ: they're the ones that suffer quality of life issues from (eg) party rentals. For reference, co-op boards tend to outright ban short term rentals.
- DanBC 10y ago
  It's not "spare" housing. People who buy apartments for use with AirBnB are reducing the housing stock available to people who want long term rents or to buy to live.
  - 10y ago
bduerst 10y ago
I don't think unionization will be possible with Uber drivers. Uber doesn't own the cars and doesn't technically employ the drivers (in most states) - so there isn't any way for the Uber drivers to organize, collude, and force ranks.
- mkhpalm 10y ago
  Plus, its fairly well set up for "scabs" to make anything unionized ineffective. Uber will just respond: "no thanks" to any union strikes. Without the union colluding with the city or state governments to monopolize or cartel the industry... Part time drivers will just see "surge pricing" and "more pickups" to make part time easy money on.
bogomipz 10y ago
neural linguistics? Care to elaborate?
- telotortium 10y ago
  He might be thinking of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming.
Bombthecat 10y ago
Why should they unionize ? There are so many firms and corps and people who should do that. But they don't. Why should they be different?

mc32 10y ago

My recollection might be off, but I think the term was popularized by the tech press not so much the tech companies described as such. However, the argument can be made that the sharing, while not in the classical sense, does reduce the impact on resources through efficiencies. So in that sense, people are sharing resources (as in sharing a bus ride --you both pay) and making less impact on earth's resources. Small cab companies in that sense were more inefficient, among other things, because an idle car (one without a medallion) could be put to use to taxi people around. Same for AB&B. People arguably maximize the use of a house --by renting their spare rooms (the use case has morphed since inception, granted). I think you can see where this model, whatever it's called makes more efficient use of our resources.

r00fus 10y ago
Tech press? Where do these outfits get their talking points? Hint: http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html?ref=ep http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html?ref=ep
- mc32 10y ago
  They don't have to take it and run with it. Obviously the problem is with their editorial integrity. Never the less, we can look beyond the words and discuss the actual things.
wool_gather 10y ago
This is true given that ride sharing is actually displacing under-used personal vehicles (and/or taxis), and not higher-efficiency public transit, or other alternatives. (Suzie goes across town to a bar every Friday night now because she can take an Uber. She used to just walk up the street to the one near her house.) I don't know whether it is or not (and I assume the answer is different in different places), but it bears mentioning.
collyw 10y ago
I would argue that Airbnb is doing the opposite. Using residential housing for tourists, reducing the supply, when perfectly good hotels are available.
- meric 10y ago
  The hotels's profitability will reduce, and the marginally profitable ones will be converted into apartments, increasing residential supply.
  - Naritai 10y ago
    To avoid being laughed out of the room, you'll have to prove that the growth in residences due to hotel closures is greater than the loss of residences due to AirBNB.
    - meric 10y ago
      Let me clarify, the increase in housing supply is a reaction towards an increase in AirBNB's and may not cancel out the decrease in housing supply due to those AirBNB's. I made the comment to say the decrease in long term residences is not as great as the number of residences allocated as AirBNB's. One hotel converted into condominiums create 1100 residences,[1] out of < 30000 AirBNB rentals in NYC. It's such a "problem" the council wanted to ban it. [3] [1] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/waldorf-astoria-hotel-to-be-gutted-up-to-1100-rooms-turned-into-condos-2016-06-27 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/waldorf-astoria-hotel-to-be... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11992112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11992112 [3] http://nypost.com/2015/05/11/council-plan-would-limit-changing-hotels-into-apartments/ http://nypost.com/2015/05/11/council-plan-would-limit-changi...
      - collyw 10y ago
        Yet, this study says that NY housing stock is down 10% down to Airbnb. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/27/airbnb-new-york-city-housing-stock-reduction-study https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/27/airbnb-new-y...

freyr 10y ago

> [why] are cabs so much more inefficient than Uber...? Few drivers depend completely on Uber for their income Also, few cab companies subsidize rides with borrowed money in the name of growth.

spikels 10y ago

Sharing may not be the best name but there is clearly value to be gained by using valuable assets like cars, housing and spare time more intensively. What's fundamentally wrong with this?

bobthepanda 10y ago
Housing has the issue that someone who is there for a few days at most does not really have any incentive to care about their neighbors or the property they are staying in. Most people would not buy an apartment next to a hotel room.
- wvenable 10y ago
  My co-worker rents a condo on VRBO and the condo board is perfectly fine with the short-term renters as they have far more trouble with long-term renters. The real issue is how much real estate isn't available for long term renters because short term rentals are so much more profitable and easy. It's killer on vacancy rates and drives up rents for everyone.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - matthewowen 10y ago
    I'm sure the condo board is fine: short term renters are probably less demanding in terms of services provided by the condo board. I suspect the buildings fellow residents might differ: they're the ones that suffer quality of life issues from (eg) party rentals. For reference, co-op boards tend to outright ban short term rentals.
DanBC 10y ago
It's not "spare" housing. People who buy apartments for use with AirBnB are reducing the housing stock available to people who want long term rents or to buy to live.
- 10y ago

bduerst 10y ago

I don't think unionization will be possible with Uber drivers. Uber doesn't own the cars and doesn't technically employ the drivers (in most states) - so there isn't any way for the Uber drivers to organize, collude, and force ranks.

mkhpalm 10y ago
Plus, its fairly well set up for "scabs" to make anything unionized ineffective. Uber will just respond: "no thanks" to any union strikes. Without the union colluding with the city or state governments to monopolize or cartel the industry... Part time drivers will just see "surge pricing" and "more pickups" to make part time easy money on.

bogomipz 10y ago

neural linguistics? Care to elaborate?

telotortium 10y ago
He might be thinking of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming.

Bombthecat 10y ago

Why should they unionize ? There are so many firms and corps and people who should do that. But they don't. Why should they be different?