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Uber is active in 80+ countries and 600+ cities worldwide. That's a really big gap to fill.
by pcr0 9y ago
Uber is active in 80+ countries and 600+ cities worldwide. That's a really big gap to fill.
- __jal 9y agoThat's 600+ cities where suddenly there's a huge incentive to fill it fast. Do advocates of free markets as engines of creation and disruption really have so little faith?
- pcr0 9y agoExcept the taxi industry in many cities is not a free market, my city in particular being #1 on both the world crony capitalist index and the world economic freedom index (Hong Kong). Uber stuck their middle finger at our regulators in a way that no other company had dared to before, at the benefit of consumers. Going forward, I don't think we'll ever see another taxi company with the balls and cash that Uber has (or had).
- Apocryphon 9y agoThen it should be hoped that locals will be inspired by Uber's example and launch a native version. If we're going to put our faith in markets and free enterprise, then we need to believe that the market will find a way to deal with the gap of Uber. To do otherwise is to view the organization as indispensable, which is even worse than laissez-faire market worship; it's the objectivist veneration of a producer (vs. looters), and bowing to Uber's will because we think we cannot live if it shrugs. There are plenty of other people in this world with balls and cash.
- anigbrowl 9y agoRumor has it that there are other large corporations whose operations span the globe, and whose employees know the arcane formulae to command the performance of mighty forces that can summon chariots at will. I know nothing of such worldly matters; I am but a humble priest of Eris.
- pcr0 9y agoSure, the technology has a low barrier of entry but that ignores network effects (necessitating lots of cash burn) and the willpower to oppose entrenched interests such as governments and taxi groups.
- wbl 9y agoNetwork effects are mostly local. You can be rideshare for a major city and the residents will use you even if it isn't worth it for others.
- LightskinKanye 9y agoI heard Chariot got bought by Ford
- enraged_camel 9y agoMeh. Two years ago, Uber and Lyft threw a tantrum about being forced to play fair and left Austin. Several competitors sprung up and filled the gap within a matter of weeks.
- goatherders 9y agoIt was a year ago and we've hardly missed them.
- astrodust 9y agoThat's the funny thing about the gig economy. You're instantly replaced.
- intoverflow2 9y agoThe drivers don't vanish into thin air if the mobile phone app dies