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It really makes the insane gamble of the Uber VC's ultimately terminal.

devmunchies 9y ago
That's what happens when you invest in hype. There's no way we'll be able to hail an autonomous Uber in the next 5 years, which is an eternity in startup land.
chapmindustries 9y ago
I strongly disagree. Uber has markets that make money and they release new services all the time. There are ways for them to stay in the black if they scale things back and fine tune different markets. Someone is going to be the first in self driving cars. Uber has a tremendous demand for them. It would be stupid to not at least be trying to be the first one on the scene.
- QAPereo 9y ago
  Someone will be first, but the Uber VCs will be an old cautionary tale by then IMO.
alphonsegaston 9y ago
Maybe for this particular investment, but I'm pretty sure the wider intention was to legitimize business practices where the poor live tenuous lives as an app-directed servant class. Uber made this kind of neo-feudalism so socially acceptable that we now celebrate "Uber-for-X" as "innovation."
- QAPereo 9y ago
  To be fair, few outside of SV do celebrate that.
- rainbowmverse 9y ago
  It already happened before Uber, except now the app is in the hands of the person being exploited, not the managers creating optimized schedules that make it near impossible for individuals to hold enough jobs to pay the bills.
  - alphonsegaston 9y ago
    That's nice PR to assuage the guilt of people building this kind of tech, but it's really not working out that way: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/17/uber-drivers-homeless-assault-travis-kalanick https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/17/uber-drivers...
    - rainbowmverse 9y ago
      You must have replied to the wrong post. This agrees with my point that this kind of tech is abusive, but doesn't address my point that it's a long-standing problem older than Uber. Managers in retail and food service have used scheduling software to screw workers over for years. Uber just shifts the technology into the hands of people it exploits (smartphone app instead of scheduling software in the manager's office + calling in to get hours/find out you aren't getting any). You seemed to imply that this is a new phenomenon that isn't yet legitimized. It's been around for a long time. It was and continues to be a problem, but Uber is just a microcosm of it.

That's what happens when you invest in hype. There's no way we'll be able to hail an autonomous Uber in the next 5 years, which is an eternity in startup land.

chapmindustries 9y ago

I strongly disagree. Uber has markets that make money and they release new services all the time. There are ways for them to stay in the black if they scale things back and fine tune different markets. Someone is going to be the first in self driving cars. Uber has a tremendous demand for them. It would be stupid to not at least be trying to be the first one on the scene.

QAPereo 9y ago
Someone will be first, but the Uber VCs will be an old cautionary tale by then IMO.

alphonsegaston 9y ago

Maybe for this particular investment, but I'm pretty sure the wider intention was to legitimize business practices where the poor live tenuous lives as an app-directed servant class. Uber made this kind of neo-feudalism so socially acceptable that we now celebrate "Uber-for-X" as "innovation."

QAPereo 9y ago
To be fair, few outside of SV do celebrate that.
rainbowmverse 9y ago
It already happened before Uber, except now the app is in the hands of the person being exploited, not the managers creating optimized schedules that make it near impossible for individuals to hold enough jobs to pay the bills.
- alphonsegaston 9y ago
  That's nice PR to assuage the guilt of people building this kind of tech, but it's really not working out that way: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/17/uber-drivers-homeless-assault-travis-kalanick https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/17/uber-drivers...
  - rainbowmverse 9y ago
    You must have replied to the wrong post. This agrees with my point that this kind of tech is abusive, but doesn't address my point that it's a long-standing problem older than Uber. Managers in retail and food service have used scheduling software to screw workers over for years. Uber just shifts the technology into the hands of people it exploits (smartphone app instead of scheduling software in the manager's office + calling in to get hours/find out you aren't getting any). You seemed to imply that this is a new phenomenon that isn't yet legitimized. It's been around for a long time. It was and continues to be a problem, but Uber is just a microcosm of it.