5 ms·

Yup. Have never gotten the whole "Airbnb/Uber/<startup>" is just a crud app line of thought. If they're crud apps then everything else in between is just glue

by yomly 10y ago

Yup. Have never gotten the whole "Airbnb/Uber/<startup>" is just a crud app line of thought. If they're crud apps then everything else in between is just glue programming. The author of the post covered some very astute points but one not covered in much detail is the challenge of scale and reliability. Maybe this falls under the bucket of optimization and/or latency but I think this deserves being called out on its own. Once you have Uber-scale number of users requesting taxis at any point, and have a network of drivers constantly communicating their position with the app, suddenly you no longer have a trivial crud app on your hands...

ZeroGravitas 10y ago
I read an article the other day that claimed Uber was beating Lyft because they had a strategy of opening a physical office in each city, having an office for drivers to sign up, and a human being who tailored things for that location. Their rival on the other hand assumed that some programmers in SF could do everything neccessary from a distance. Not sure how true it is, but it seemed an interesting theory.
collyw 10y ago
Most apps are crud at the end of the day. Making them scale is the hard part.
problems 10y ago
Well, that's the thing - they are just a CRUD app in a lot of ways. Even at "uber scale" it really isn't that bad, it'd be a few incremental challenges but nothing a small team couldn't handle from a technical perspective. The catch though is that on top of that CRUD app is a business which involves some serious legal and marketing divisions to make that app work. The tech may be simple, but the business side of it certainly isn't. The "I could hack that up in a weekend" attitude is often true - but it only covers the bare basics of the software it doesn't even attempt to address the business, which if often where the real struggle is these days. Especially if your background is development. I think many engineers still say this knowingly though, just to (perhaps incorrectly) scoff at the value of good business people.
new299 10y ago
These companies are not "tech" companies in my book any more than the Sears catalog was a "tech" innovation. They are normal business that happen to be enabled by technology, but the technological challenges are not new or to be frank uncommonly challenging. Because we're I assume mostly coders, we think they are differentiated by tech, almost everything else (marketing, sales, customer service) is likely more important. Bad technology could certainly kill a platform, but excellent tech won't save it, and a mediocre implementation is good enough.
- miguelrochefort 10y ago
  Exactly. I would be surprised if Uber hired more than 20 developers (which I consider a lot already).
  - Cyph0n 10y ago
    I would extremely impressed if Uber is maintained and developed by only 20 developers.
    - miguelrochefort 10y ago
      Care to explain why?
      - knesek 10y ago
        Just FYI I recently watched a tech talk from some conference where Uber guy claiming they have 2000 developers...
        Cyph0n 10y ago
        What the hell that's insane...
        georgealton 10y ago
        heres a youtube link for those interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb-m2fasdDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb-m2fasdDY

by yomly 10y ago

ZeroGravitas 10y ago

I read an article the other day that claimed Uber was beating Lyft because they had a strategy of opening a physical office in each city, having an office for drivers to sign up, and a human being who tailored things for that location. Their rival on the other hand assumed that some programmers in SF could do everything neccessary from a distance. Not sure how true it is, but it seemed an interesting theory.

collyw 10y ago

Most apps are crud at the end of the day. Making them scale is the hard part.

problems 10y ago

Well, that's the thing - they are just a CRUD app in a lot of ways. Even at "uber scale" it really isn't that bad, it'd be a few incremental challenges but nothing a small team couldn't handle from a technical perspective. The catch though is that on top of that CRUD app is a business which involves some serious legal and marketing divisions to make that app work. The tech may be simple, but the business side of it certainly isn't. The "I could hack that up in a weekend" attitude is often true - but it only covers the bare basics of the software it doesn't even attempt to address the business, which if often where the real struggle is these days. Especially if your background is development. I think many engineers still say this knowingly though, just to (perhaps incorrectly) scoff at the value of good business people.

new299 10y ago

These companies are not "tech" companies in my book any more than the Sears catalog was a "tech" innovation. They are normal business that happen to be enabled by technology, but the technological challenges are not new or to be frank uncommonly challenging. Because we're I assume mostly coders, we think they are differentiated by tech, almost everything else (marketing, sales, customer service) is likely more important. Bad technology could certainly kill a platform, but excellent tech won't save it, and a mediocre implementation is good enough.

miguelrochefort 10y ago
Exactly. I would be surprised if Uber hired more than 20 developers (which I consider a lot already).
- Cyph0n 10y ago
  I would extremely impressed if Uber is maintained and developed by only 20 developers.
  - miguelrochefort 10y ago
    Care to explain why?
    - knesek 10y ago
      Just FYI I recently watched a tech talk from some conference where Uber guy claiming they have 2000 developers...
      - Cyph0n 10y ago
        What the hell that's insane...
      - georgealton 10y ago
        heres a youtube link for those interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb-m2fasdDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb-m2fasdDY