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A slightly off-topic question: when was the last time when Hacker News front page hasn't featured a negative post about Uber?

nsebban 10y ago
Probably back when they were focused on disrupting a market, more than on improving their operations in kind-of shady ways ?
throwanem 10y ago
When was the last time anyone had anything positive to say about Uber?
- Anderkent 10y ago
  > When was the last time anyone had anything positive to say about Uber? This is the exact reason why I find it hard to take seriously anything anyone says about Uber on the internet. The completely one-sided 'discussion' is so divorced from reality - if there was really nothing positive to say about Uber, why do people still choose to use and drive for them?
  - throwanem 10y ago
    Is "taxis are even worse" really all that positive?
    - Anderkent 10y ago
      Yes, because one hardly sees outrage directed at the taxi companies? If Uber is an improvement over status quo, stop trying to bring them down for not being perfect. Sure, talk about how Uber could be better. But 'Uber is evil ZOMG never use them' is counter-productive.
      - throwanem 10y ago
        I'm not sure I can agree. There's clearly a market there, because taxis suck almost everywhere they exist, but nothing, including its having identified that market, requires that Uber continue to be the primary company in it. I can see an argument that "Uber is evil ZOMG never use them", should it actually result in Uber doing less business - itself a questionable surmise, but whatever - opens up more space in the market for Uber's presumably less exploitive competitors. It's also a little much to suggest that Uber is merely "not perfect". Its business model has always been predicated upon the near-term advent of self-driving car technology, which has clearly not occurred quickly enough to make the company sustainable. That being so, Uber's instead been forced to fall back on tactics toward its drivers and customers which are widely regarded with what we might charitably call considerable distaste. As such, Uber itself has become ripe for disruption, and I think that's the intent toward which "Uber is evil ZOMG never use them" is ultimately directed - the underlying reasoning being that Uber, having been designed around an unsustainable model, is pretty much screwed no matter what happens, and the question now is how to limit the extent of damage it can do before its inevitable collapse and replacement in the market by more sustainable competitors and successors.
  - DannyBee 10y ago
    "if there was really nothing positive to say about Uber, why do people still choose to use and drive for them?" if there was really nothing positive to say about Comcast, why do people still choose to use them?
    - throwaway40483 10y ago
      Because in many markets, Comcast is the only provider.

nsebban 10y ago

Probably back when they were focused on disrupting a market, more than on improving their operations in kind-of shady ways ?

throwanem 10y ago

When was the last time anyone had anything positive to say about Uber?

Anderkent 10y ago
> When was the last time anyone had anything positive to say about Uber? This is the exact reason why I find it hard to take seriously anything anyone says about Uber on the internet. The completely one-sided 'discussion' is so divorced from reality - if there was really nothing positive to say about Uber, why do people still choose to use and drive for them?
- throwanem 10y ago
  Is "taxis are even worse" really all that positive?
  - Anderkent 10y ago
    Yes, because one hardly sees outrage directed at the taxi companies? If Uber is an improvement over status quo, stop trying to bring them down for not being perfect. Sure, talk about how Uber could be better. But 'Uber is evil ZOMG never use them' is counter-productive.
    - throwanem 10y ago
      I'm not sure I can agree. There's clearly a market there, because taxis suck almost everywhere they exist, but nothing, including its having identified that market, requires that Uber continue to be the primary company in it. I can see an argument that "Uber is evil ZOMG never use them", should it actually result in Uber doing less business - itself a questionable surmise, but whatever - opens up more space in the market for Uber's presumably less exploitive competitors. It's also a little much to suggest that Uber is merely "not perfect". Its business model has always been predicated upon the near-term advent of self-driving car technology, which has clearly not occurred quickly enough to make the company sustainable. That being so, Uber's instead been forced to fall back on tactics toward its drivers and customers which are widely regarded with what we might charitably call considerable distaste. As such, Uber itself has become ripe for disruption, and I think that's the intent toward which "Uber is evil ZOMG never use them" is ultimately directed - the underlying reasoning being that Uber, having been designed around an unsustainable model, is pretty much screwed no matter what happens, and the question now is how to limit the extent of damage it can do before its inevitable collapse and replacement in the market by more sustainable competitors and successors.
- DannyBee 10y ago
  "if there was really nothing positive to say about Uber, why do people still choose to use and drive for them?" if there was really nothing positive to say about Comcast, why do people still choose to use them?
  - throwaway40483 10y ago
    Because in many markets, Comcast is the only provider.