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It makes me sad that SpaceX, a company that actually invents and makes stuff, is mentioned alongside Uber whose only product is evading taxes and regulations
by gaius 9y ago
It makes me sad that SpaceX, a company that actually invents and makes stuff, is mentioned alongside Uber whose only product is evading taxes and regulations
- onebyzero2506 9y agoComparing SpaceX with Uber is like comparing apples to oranges.SpaceX may be inventing stuff but Uber solves a common problem for everyone around the world. I don't need to think twice about going from point A to point B without much hassle. And coming to the invention part, I believe rocket science is as much difficult as serving million requests concurrently and consistently without affecting user experience anywhere in the process. If Uber's product is evading taxes and regulations, then Google's products are just trying to make you click on some random ads. As a fellow hacker, you know what hard problems i am trying to talk about and we should respect that. I agree uber has some problems internally but they don't deserve to be disrespected.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- sumedh 9y agoI don't think that is a fair comparison, Uber has revolutionized the transport industry. It has direct impact on you and me right now. Space X does not have such a direct impact for the rest of us.
- adrianN 9y agoHow has Uber revolutionized the transport industry? I could call a Taxi just fine before Uber.
- gaius 9y agoTaxi apps pre-date Uber too
- golergka 9y agoDid you expect it to turn up in 3 minutes, be clean and responsible and cost half of what it used to? I sometimes feel as if people who criticize Uber didn't ever use taxi services in the pre-Uber times.
- adrianN 9y agoI don't know where you live, but here in Berlin taxis come quickly, are clean, and you pay what the meter states. I never had trouble with a driver. They could be cheaper, but I don't think that lowering prices by increasing competition is revolutionary.
- gaius 9y agoUber is not really cheaper, they are just burning their investors cash to project the illusion. When a) that runs out and b) they have to pay the same fees and taxes and follow the same regulations as other taxi companies, the true cost will be revealed
- Helmet 9y agoYou're speculating. As it stands right now, Uber is absolutely cheaper than taxi's (at least where I am from). What they have to do in the future is anyone's guess.
- gaius 9y agoHave they figured a way to get cheaper cars and fuel then? And are their drivers willing to work for lower pay than any other drivers? At the end of the day, you can't sustain charging less for a service than it costs to provide, and make it up on volume.
- dbbk 9y agoThat is only because Uber is currently subsidising the rides. This is well known.
- kbart 9y ago
- golergka 9y agoUber (and its competitors) have significantly improved lives of millions of people around the world. SpaceX only promises to do so.
- rkunnamp 9y agoTechnically both company wants to take people from point A to point B. But those points vary widely though. As someone from India, I have huge respect for Uber. The taxi unions here were looting people. They were quite arrogant. In Bangalore, most auto taxi drivers would happily stay idle for the whole day, and try to make some quick bucks during the rush hours by charging 300% or 400% extra, until Uber came and killed their arrogance. Uber may not have had the same level of technical innovations as SpaceX. But they do have mammoth execution challenges, to the scale that no company might have had to face so far. For eg, in India, in each of the 29 states , they have to deal with the regulators of each state. In hundreds of cities, they have to deal with the respective taxi unions. Extrapolate it to a global scale , I can't even imagine. My respects to both Elon and Travis! Both are my heroes.
- rayvd 9y agoThe best thing that Uber has done (whatever its other flaws) is challenge the Taxi/Union/Government monopoly. More taxes and regulations are NOT good things.