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Of course Uber sees an uptick in bookings. None of the people using the service in almost 200 countries worldwide are tuned into the daily drama of Silicon Vall

Of course Uber sees an uptick in bookings. None of the people using the service in almost 200 countries worldwide are tuned into the daily drama of Silicon Valley. Normal people want to get from point A to point B in the most comfortable, efficient, cheap way possible. If that means Uber then so be it. If that means Taxis then so be it. If that means Didi Chuxing then so be it. It just turns out that Uber is well positioned and offers a compelling service in many countries around the world and so enjoys the resulting growing business. I don't mean to downplay the importance of the events transpiring around and within Uber - they are unprecedented and important to varying degrees. But most normal people won't even have a cursory understanding of those events when it's all said and done. The world is vast and people are busy.

QAPereo 9y ago
By the same token the issues which Uber faces really have very little to do with publicity and everything to do with operating at a substantial and constant loss, all bet on a dream of automation which is probably decades away. Uber with drivers simply doesn't work as a profitable business, and the self driving cars they need are simply not going to be here in time to save them. The rest is more or less academic.
- booleandilemma 9y ago
  Doesn't Amazon operate on a loss? Doesn't it not matter as long as there is a long term potential for profit?
- tinbad 9y ago
  People have said the same about FB and Amazon. I agree that they wont be able to stay at loss for ever, however once the cheap cash runs out there's nothing stopping them from bumping up the rates a bit and/or growing less aggressively. Yes, they will loose x% of users, but the ones that stay will be served at a profit. At this point, Uber is likely too big to fail. Anecdotally, I have used Uber from the beginning and never even bothered to install anything else just because there was no compelling reason to, I don't see that be different for many users.
  - jmckib 9y ago
    I would recommend installing Lyft as well if it's available in your area. Depending on where I am, usually one service or the other is cheaper, sometimes significantly.
- AOsborn 9y ago
  Fair viewpoint. I agree with you that this looks like the longer term business plan. However, multiple rounds of investors disagree and have come to the table and bet their cash. This will be interesting to watch unfold. To extend the runway will cost an increasing amount. However, as the investment from influential investors increases so does the ability of Uber to influence government policy and actually push through self-driving.
Z1nfandel 9y ago
So true. Most people just don't care. I've used this to my advantage over the past few years, as soon as a "big corporate scandal" breaks the stock tends to fall. Check their financials, buy the stock if it looks good, then wait a few months for it to all blow over. My most recent was Wells Fargo during their opening accounts scandal. Bought early Oct, Sold late Jan. 20.06% profit. There were so many headlines calling for boycotts of Wells, and to teach them a lesson with your wallet. In the long run people just don't give a damn. For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient."
- icebraining 9y ago
  Even those who care, might not have real alternatives. The real benefit I see from Uber is exactly that: opening the markets up so we can avoid the bad actors. But for now, many of us still only have the choice between "new and corrupt" and "old and corrupt". Thankfully, more competition is coming, after Uber broken the barrier down. (And yes, I know other places already had good working systems. Good for you, doesn't help me, though)
  - monksy 9y ago
    How's Via and Sidecar doing?
    - tmh79 9y ago
      sidecar shutdown long ago and via sold to an israeli company
- will_brown 9y ago
  >For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient." I guess there is actually an 11th person saying, awesome I can financially support this evil company in the short term and make a quick buck. I've been talking a lot about boycotts lately on HN to curb unwanted corporate behavior, in particular as it relates to a lot of the recent 1st Amendment issues and concerns (because 1st amendment is a limit on governmental power, not private entities). No doubt boycotts are hard, and I'm not sure there was ever a time in history where anyone ever felt real change was easy, or ever a time where the people seeking change felt others/the world cared. From MLK's quote "all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing". To Gandhi's, "be the change you wish to see it this world." Maybe above all people just need to be inspired, and some historical perspective of what people can accomplish working together. And as disheartening as a comment likes yours is, it's truthful, and I personally find it motivating and inspiring. I guess it's sort of like telling someone something can't be done and that being the catalyst for action. I'm pretty motivated at this time to create an organizational platform for boycotts in a crowdsourcing-esq style without need for funding. If you don't mind, I guess like a sort of prelaunch feedback, what would it take for someone like you, willing to profit on bad corporate behavior, to instead become a leader for change?
BadassFractal 9y ago
Also not to downplay the issues with sexism in tech, but the level of uproar is somewhat reminiscent of the Ellen Pao situation and how much Twitter/HN/SF exist in an echo chamber. I'm sorry I don't want to march on the streets because a group of billionaires are acting like total assholes towards an aspiring billionaire trying to play the game of thrones with that court. The rest of us have-nots have real problems to worry about. Cry me a fucking river.
- icebraining 9y ago
  The Uber boycott is not about the ousting of Travis, it started before that, back in January, after the kerfuffle surrounding the infamous executive order, the taxi union's decision to refuse to pick up drivers at the airport, and Uber's tweet that they had disabled surge pricing. It then gained more steam after allegations of having a cutthroat workplace, accusations of sexism and sexual harassment (over which they fired 20 employees after an internal investigation), and allegedly colluding to rip off Waymo. Oh, and the accusations of misleading drivers, over which they ended up paying $20M to the FTC.
fusiongyro 9y ago
They actually made a joke to this effect about Uber and Lyft on the last episode of Difficult People.
revelation 9y ago
That might be true but it still got the CEO fired. It's not quite totally inconsequential.
jandrese 9y ago
One thing that I've wondered about with Uber is if they're so horrible to their drivers, why don't those drivers switch to Lyft? Does Uber really have that many more passengers? Or is the almost constant barrage of negative stories about Uber part of some attack campaign and the majority of them are overblown? Maybe there is a Boy Who Cried Wolf factor to the negative Uber press?
- inverse_pi 9y ago
  how do you know they're horrible to their drivers? AFAIK, they actually have more driver friendly features than Lyft
  - LeoPanthera 9y ago
    I mostly use Lyft, and 95-99% of the drivers who pick me up work for both. So far, everyone single one I've asked has said they prefer Lyft.
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  In most places outside the US, Lyft does not operate.
  - princeb 9y ago
    in these places, alternatives definitely exist. addison lee, hailo, ola, grab, didi, some traditional cab companies also have their own hailing app.
philfrasty 9y ago
„...drama of Silicon Valley...“ sounds like the Majority illusion applies to SV. [i] https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.03022 https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.03022
ugh123 9y ago
I'm tuned into the daily drama but really don't care. I want something reliable and quick. Lyft had a bug for a few months where they wouldn't accept my credit card anymore (no reason, just a generic system error). I've used Uber exclusively since.

QAPereo 9y ago

By the same token the issues which Uber faces really have very little to do with publicity and everything to do with operating at a substantial and constant loss, all bet on a dream of automation which is probably decades away. Uber with drivers simply doesn't work as a profitable business, and the self driving cars they need are simply not going to be here in time to save them. The rest is more or less academic.

booleandilemma 9y ago
Doesn't Amazon operate on a loss? Doesn't it not matter as long as there is a long term potential for profit?
tinbad 9y ago
People have said the same about FB and Amazon. I agree that they wont be able to stay at loss for ever, however once the cheap cash runs out there's nothing stopping them from bumping up the rates a bit and/or growing less aggressively. Yes, they will loose x% of users, but the ones that stay will be served at a profit. At this point, Uber is likely too big to fail. Anecdotally, I have used Uber from the beginning and never even bothered to install anything else just because there was no compelling reason to, I don't see that be different for many users.
- jmckib 9y ago
  I would recommend installing Lyft as well if it's available in your area. Depending on where I am, usually one service or the other is cheaper, sometimes significantly.
AOsborn 9y ago
Fair viewpoint. I agree with you that this looks like the longer term business plan. However, multiple rounds of investors disagree and have come to the table and bet their cash. This will be interesting to watch unfold. To extend the runway will cost an increasing amount. However, as the investment from influential investors increases so does the ability of Uber to influence government policy and actually push through self-driving.

Z1nfandel 9y ago

So true. Most people just don't care. I've used this to my advantage over the past few years, as soon as a "big corporate scandal" breaks the stock tends to fall. Check their financials, buy the stock if it looks good, then wait a few months for it to all blow over. My most recent was Wells Fargo during their opening accounts scandal. Bought early Oct, Sold late Jan. 20.06% profit. There were so many headlines calling for boycotts of Wells, and to teach them a lesson with your wallet. In the long run people just don't give a damn. For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient."

icebraining 9y ago
Even those who care, might not have real alternatives. The real benefit I see from Uber is exactly that: opening the markets up so we can avoid the bad actors. But for now, many of us still only have the choice between "new and corrupt" and "old and corrupt". Thankfully, more competition is coming, after Uber broken the barrier down. (And yes, I know other places already had good working systems. Good for you, doesn't help me, though)
- monksy 9y ago
  How's Via and Sidecar doing?
  - tmh79 9y ago
    sidecar shutdown long ago and via sold to an israeli company
will_brown 9y ago
>For every one person saying: "Uber is evil, don't use them" There are ten saying "Meh, its cheap and convenient." I guess there is actually an 11th person saying, awesome I can financially support this evil company in the short term and make a quick buck. I've been talking a lot about boycotts lately on HN to curb unwanted corporate behavior, in particular as it relates to a lot of the recent 1st Amendment issues and concerns (because 1st amendment is a limit on governmental power, not private entities). No doubt boycotts are hard, and I'm not sure there was ever a time in history where anyone ever felt real change was easy, or ever a time where the people seeking change felt others/the world cared. From MLK's quote "all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing". To Gandhi's, "be the change you wish to see it this world." Maybe above all people just need to be inspired, and some historical perspective of what people can accomplish working together. And as disheartening as a comment likes yours is, it's truthful, and I personally find it motivating and inspiring. I guess it's sort of like telling someone something can't be done and that being the catalyst for action. I'm pretty motivated at this time to create an organizational platform for boycotts in a crowdsourcing-esq style without need for funding. If you don't mind, I guess like a sort of prelaunch feedback, what would it take for someone like you, willing to profit on bad corporate behavior, to instead become a leader for change?

BadassFractal 9y ago

Also not to downplay the issues with sexism in tech, but the level of uproar is somewhat reminiscent of the Ellen Pao situation and how much Twitter/HN/SF exist in an echo chamber. I'm sorry I don't want to march on the streets because a group of billionaires are acting like total assholes towards an aspiring billionaire trying to play the game of thrones with that court. The rest of us have-nots have real problems to worry about. Cry me a fucking river.

icebraining 9y ago
The Uber boycott is not about the ousting of Travis, it started before that, back in January, after the kerfuffle surrounding the infamous executive order, the taxi union's decision to refuse to pick up drivers at the airport, and Uber's tweet that they had disabled surge pricing. It then gained more steam after allegations of having a cutthroat workplace, accusations of sexism and sexual harassment (over which they fired 20 employees after an internal investigation), and allegedly colluding to rip off Waymo. Oh, and the accusations of misleading drivers, over which they ended up paying $20M to the FTC.

fusiongyro 9y ago

They actually made a joke to this effect about Uber and Lyft on the last episode of Difficult People.

revelation 9y ago

That might be true but it still got the CEO fired. It's not quite totally inconsequential.

jandrese 9y ago

One thing that I've wondered about with Uber is if they're so horrible to their drivers, why don't those drivers switch to Lyft? Does Uber really have that many more passengers? Or is the almost constant barrage of negative stories about Uber part of some attack campaign and the majority of them are overblown? Maybe there is a Boy Who Cried Wolf factor to the negative Uber press?

inverse_pi 9y ago
how do you know they're horrible to their drivers? AFAIK, they actually have more driver friendly features than Lyft
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  I mostly use Lyft, and 95-99% of the drivers who pick me up work for both. So far, everyone single one I've asked has said they prefer Lyft.
LeoPanthera 9y ago
In most places outside the US, Lyft does not operate.
- princeb 9y ago
  in these places, alternatives definitely exist. addison lee, hailo, ola, grab, didi, some traditional cab companies also have their own hailing app.

philfrasty 9y ago

„...drama of Silicon Valley...“ sounds like the Majority illusion applies to SV. [i] https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.03022 https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.03022

ugh123 9y ago

I'm tuned into the daily drama but really don't care. I want something reliable and quick. Lyft had a bug for a few months where they wouldn't accept my credit card anymore (no reason, just a generic system error). I've used Uber exclusively since.