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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; engineers, is there really no other company with the same interesting problems to work on but Uber? I can understand

by pimmen 9y ago

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; engineers, is there really no other company with the same interesting problems to work on but Uber? I can understand staying with a company past a big scandal and shake up in management, who knows, maybe you’ll be remembered as one of the people who made the company better now that the only way is up. But when scandal after scandal after scandal rolls by, and the common denominator of them is the very people who works there, is this really the company you want to support? Why did you become an engineer? I can understand if your answer is money, respect or ”doing math and coding is fun” really, that’s enough for me, you don’t need to do it to save the world, and Uber does offer money, respect, and opportunities to do math and code. But, wouldn’t you rather sleep knowing you don’t support a company that screws over people like this poor woman? There are plenty of companies screaming after good engineers, why do you support such a rotten, morally bankrupt management by writing their code for them? Can you honestly talk about the stuff you knew your company did, and all the opportunities out there you passed on, to your children with a straight face? Because I would like to see the snakes in Uber’s management write their own code and explain away responsibility the next time a scandal hits them.

chronic193 9y ago
I did it for the money. Uber pays well. Either that or finance to exploit arbitrage opportunities.
Game_Ender 9y ago
Is this a new thing? If a group of people X did bad things in the past and they are no longer affiliated with Z. Why should learning more about those bad things in the past affect your current interactions with Z? It’s essentially a different group of people. It’s similar to the issues people have with Europe over the crimes they committed in the colonial era. People are legitimately upset about it, but judge the current governments on their recent actions. Time scales are of course different, and it does not excuse future transgressions, but those our judged on their own merits.
misun78 9y ago
I will also directly address this comment as an Uber engineer without any deep vested commitment to Uber i.e. not an early employee who can't leave for the FANGs of the world for the same incentives. Your viewpoint is incredibly naive and dangerous I am sorry. There are a few nuances worth understanding: 1. A lot of Uber's rotten culture stems from top-down, from Travis, who while not intending malice, operated from a viewpoint of fear and paranoia. That very top-down set up has now been replaced all the way up from the CEO. Why would someone not want to be part of that especially when you're able to see the change first-hand. Past skeletons still need to be cleared out but what happens once the company starts afresh?. You owe it to yourself to keep an open mind and not prophesize the very one-sides narrative that sells a lot better in the media circles. 2. While I can sympathize with #1, I am not sure how you can make the claim that Uber is in the business of screwing people over. It's outsized impact to consumers – both riders and drivers – is the favorite aspect of working at Uber. Most of us would otherwise be busy forcing people to click on spammy ads. Uber for me has helped blur the line between digital and human impact and I have first-hand noticed the impact from my work. Think about how fewer riders need to drink and drive because of Uber. In most of our cities, drivers who initially would have no source of part-time income, are now able to make money for all sorts of needs (help kids pay for college, side-gig while recovering from an injury are ones I have heard first-hand recently). Hearing these stories is inspiring. It compels you to get rid of the bad parts and be part of the change. In addressing your direct comment, I am proud to tell my kids the opportunities I have helped create for people across the world. Now if only we figured out to sell our story better and win people over such as yourself. Give us some time :)
- pimmen 9y ago
  I do agree that a lot of Uber’s impact is positive on both riders and drivers. Every time an Uber scandal rolls by I’ve heard the same two quotes from friends and family; ”Really? All I know about Uber is that when I used them in a completely foreign country it was still the best taxi experience I’ve ever had” or ”My son drives for them to get money on the side in college”. People are amazed about these two sides; management not really caring about who or what is in the way and the employees such as yourself delivering such great value. I’m not going to pretend my employer is Jesus or something, they’ve done their fair share of bad stuff that puts their name in the paper too, but I personally feel like there is a line. When you witness so many cases of the management prioritizing profit over being decent, doesn’t that bother you? I could pull up five serious cases of abuse of trust Uber is directly responsible for that happened just this year, is there a number of infractions on the magnitude this poor woman has suffered that would make you leave?
ben_jones 9y ago
All it takes for a 22 year old straight out of school to write ad tracking code, spam software, or god knows what else, is 120k combined compensation. No, software developers are not any different from lawyers, finance, big oil, or any other industry with deep institutional issues that routinely subvert humanity.

by pimmen 9y ago

chronic193 9y ago

I did it for the money. Uber pays well. Either that or finance to exploit arbitrage opportunities.

Game_Ender 9y ago

Is this a new thing? If a group of people X did bad things in the past and they are no longer affiliated with Z. Why should learning more about those bad things in the past affect your current interactions with Z? It’s essentially a different group of people. It’s similar to the issues people have with Europe over the crimes they committed in the colonial era. People are legitimately upset about it, but judge the current governments on their recent actions. Time scales are of course different, and it does not excuse future transgressions, but those our judged on their own merits.

misun78 9y ago

I will also directly address this comment as an Uber engineer without any deep vested commitment to Uber i.e. not an early employee who can't leave for the FANGs of the world for the same incentives. Your viewpoint is incredibly naive and dangerous I am sorry. There are a few nuances worth understanding: 1. A lot of Uber's rotten culture stems from top-down, from Travis, who while not intending malice, operated from a viewpoint of fear and paranoia. That very top-down set up has now been replaced all the way up from the CEO. Why would someone not want to be part of that especially when you're able to see the change first-hand. Past skeletons still need to be cleared out but what happens once the company starts afresh?. You owe it to yourself to keep an open mind and not prophesize the very one-sides narrative that sells a lot better in the media circles. 2. While I can sympathize with #1, I am not sure how you can make the claim that Uber is in the business of screwing people over. It's outsized impact to consumers – both riders and drivers – is the favorite aspect of working at Uber. Most of us would otherwise be busy forcing people to click on spammy ads. Uber for me has helped blur the line between digital and human impact and I have first-hand noticed the impact from my work. Think about how fewer riders need to drink and drive because of Uber. In most of our cities, drivers who initially would have no source of part-time income, are now able to make money for all sorts of needs (help kids pay for college, side-gig while recovering from an injury are ones I have heard first-hand recently). Hearing these stories is inspiring. It compels you to get rid of the bad parts and be part of the change. In addressing your direct comment, I am proud to tell my kids the opportunities I have helped create for people across the world. Now if only we figured out to sell our story better and win people over such as yourself. Give us some time :)

pimmen 9y ago
I do agree that a lot of Uber’s impact is positive on both riders and drivers. Every time an Uber scandal rolls by I’ve heard the same two quotes from friends and family; ”Really? All I know about Uber is that when I used them in a completely foreign country it was still the best taxi experience I’ve ever had” or ”My son drives for them to get money on the side in college”. People are amazed about these two sides; management not really caring about who or what is in the way and the employees such as yourself delivering such great value. I’m not going to pretend my employer is Jesus or something, they’ve done their fair share of bad stuff that puts their name in the paper too, but I personally feel like there is a line. When you witness so many cases of the management prioritizing profit over being decent, doesn’t that bother you? I could pull up five serious cases of abuse of trust Uber is directly responsible for that happened just this year, is there a number of infractions on the magnitude this poor woman has suffered that would make you leave?

ben_jones 9y ago

All it takes for a 22 year old straight out of school to write ad tracking code, spam software, or god knows what else, is 120k combined compensation. No, software developers are not any different from lawyers, finance, big oil, or any other industry with deep institutional issues that routinely subvert humanity.