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The media giveth and the media taketh away. Uber is a glorified cab dispatch organization, desperately fishing around to try to convert some of the insane valu

The media giveth and the media taketh away. Uber is a glorified cab dispatch organization, desperately fishing around to try to convert some of the insane valuation they enjoy into something more valuable. For years the media has made Uber their darling -- the oft restated misnomer about a "sharing economy" -- giving it what would likely calculate to billions in free press. Retelling the tales about the grand new world for drivers, with endless riches. The new standards of excellence for passengers. So now the bad parts are the narrative. To dredge up another trite saying, live by the sword die by the sword.

valuearb 10y ago
insane valuation? probably. Glorified cab dispatcher? Hardly. The potential of Uber is a worldwide brand with super efficient dispatch. Do you really think it costs them more than a few cents to dispatch rides? There isn't any cab dispatcher in the world with remotely their economies of scale.
- endorphone 10y ago
  The economy of scale is a ruse that doesn't actually exist in the business, and this is very well tread ground so I'm not going to repeat it. For Uber's amazing efficiency, despite not owning the cars, paying for the fuel or normal labor costs, or even the insurance in most cases, and then taking 20% of the fare....they're losing insane amounts of money. The calculation doesn't seem to work out. But in the end you've literally said that Uber isn't a cab dispatcher, but they're a super efficient cab dispatcher. Aside from that not being remotely true (their economics are absolutely abysmal), being a worldwide brand is close to meaningless. The overwhelming majority of rides happen locally. Uber's primary beachhead has been a complete disregard for regulations. This may be justified in many cases, but it led to the corporate culture that is now eating it from the inside.

valuearb 10y ago

insane valuation? probably. Glorified cab dispatcher? Hardly. The potential of Uber is a worldwide brand with super efficient dispatch. Do you really think it costs them more than a few cents to dispatch rides? There isn't any cab dispatcher in the world with remotely their economies of scale.

endorphone 10y ago
The economy of scale is a ruse that doesn't actually exist in the business, and this is very well tread ground so I'm not going to repeat it. For Uber's amazing efficiency, despite not owning the cars, paying for the fuel or normal labor costs, or even the insurance in most cases, and then taking 20% of the fare....they're losing insane amounts of money. The calculation doesn't seem to work out. But in the end you've literally said that Uber isn't a cab dispatcher, but they're a super efficient cab dispatcher. Aside from that not being remotely true (their economics are absolutely abysmal), being a worldwide brand is close to meaningless. The overwhelming majority of rides happen locally. Uber's primary beachhead has been a complete disregard for regulations. This may be justified in many cases, but it led to the corporate culture that is now eating it from the inside.