4 ms·

Am I missing something or are of these "I'm too rich to be bothered with this task" services just creating a new servant class in the United States? This "serv

by tabeth 10y ago

Am I missing something or are of these "I'm too rich to be bothered with this task" services just creating a new servant class in the United States? This "servant class" has already existed, but now I feel as if it's being carved out of the already diminishing middle class.

27182818284 10y ago
>Am I missing something I think you are a bit, because I use a lot of these services and am not rich Uber/Lyft isn't "I'm too rich to drive" it is "I'm drunk at the bars and need a ride home." or "The BART is closed because high winds blew stuff on the tracks and my flight leaves out of SFO in just a bit. "(Lyft really saved me on that one, no cabs around) Instacart isn't "I'm too rich to go grocery shopping" it is "I'm a mom of two kids, one of them has diarrhea right now, we need some things from the store" Etc - have to run but you get the idea
- aianus 10y ago
  Even daily Uber use is cheaper than owning a car where I live (Toronto). Car insurance alone is $400 a month for a young single male.
bdcravens 10y ago
I think it's bringing services to people that were previously only available to those who could afford a personal assistant.
ghaff 10y ago
I'm honestly not sure how much larger on a percentage basis the labor pool is that's associated with "I'm too rich to be bothered with this task" services is. After all, lawn/cleaning/etc. services have long been a thing. So are babysitters, taxis, etc. For someone with enough money, they could have had full-time personal assistants, cooks, drivers, etc. What seems to be mostly new is that technology is making certain tasks more efficient and/or more efficient to time-slice in a way that people who are merely comfortably well-off but not really wealthy can afford them. (And the challenge is that tasks that are sliced up that way need to be sufficiently cookie-cutter that the context and knowledge a full-time assistant might have aren't required.)
- username223 10y ago
  > After all, lawn/cleaning/etc. services have long been a thing. So are babysitters, taxis, etc. With the exception of taxis, those have traditionally been cash (i.e. untaxed) businesses with no middlemen and long-term relationships. They're "I'm too rich to be bothered," but also "I've been paying you to mow my lawn for years." The new insta-serf companies break this relationship and take a big cut to pay six-figure salaries to a handful of techies.

by tabeth 10y ago

27182818284 10y ago

>Am I missing something I think you are a bit, because I use a lot of these services and am not rich Uber/Lyft isn't "I'm too rich to drive" it is "I'm drunk at the bars and need a ride home." or "The BART is closed because high winds blew stuff on the tracks and my flight leaves out of SFO in just a bit. "(Lyft really saved me on that one, no cabs around) Instacart isn't "I'm too rich to go grocery shopping" it is "I'm a mom of two kids, one of them has diarrhea right now, we need some things from the store" Etc - have to run but you get the idea

aianus 10y ago
Even daily Uber use is cheaper than owning a car where I live (Toronto). Car insurance alone is $400 a month for a young single male.

bdcravens 10y ago

I think it's bringing services to people that were previously only available to those who could afford a personal assistant.

ghaff 10y ago

I'm honestly not sure how much larger on a percentage basis the labor pool is that's associated with "I'm too rich to be bothered with this task" services is. After all, lawn/cleaning/etc. services have long been a thing. So are babysitters, taxis, etc. For someone with enough money, they could have had full-time personal assistants, cooks, drivers, etc. What seems to be mostly new is that technology is making certain tasks more efficient and/or more efficient to time-slice in a way that people who are merely comfortably well-off but not really wealthy can afford them. (And the challenge is that tasks that are sliced up that way need to be sufficiently cookie-cutter that the context and knowledge a full-time assistant might have aren't required.)

username223 10y ago
> After all, lawn/cleaning/etc. services have long been a thing. So are babysitters, taxis, etc. With the exception of taxis, those have traditionally been cash (i.e. untaxed) businesses with no middlemen and long-term relationships. They're "I'm too rich to be bothered," but also "I've been paying you to mow my lawn for years." The new insta-serf companies break this relationship and take a big cut to pay six-figure salaries to a handful of techies.