9 ms·

Doesn't seem at all out of control. Seems like an awesome idea and the process needs to be refined to dissuade bad behavior. Considering the company was founded

Doesn't seem at all out of control. Seems like an awesome idea and the process needs to be refined to dissuade bad behavior. Considering the company was founded about a year ago is probably a lot of room for improvements and innovation (and angering your contractors in the process).

jlebar 8y ago
There headline may be a slang reference, "out of control" = "awesome" or "dope".
- TorKlingberg 8y ago
  The title of the article used to be "Who Charges Those Electric Bird Scooters?"
piokoch 8y ago
Is it legal in US to use electricity at home for business purposes? In some countries that's against contract with electricity provider, as they have different tariffs for business.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- Faaak 8y ago
  In general business tariffs are lower, so I don't see the problem.
  - dufferzone 8y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYf_TBLnPQE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYf_TBLnPQE
  - hmd_imputer 8y ago
    nope, not in Europe. Businesses have to pay a lot more than private residences.
    - denimnerd 8y ago
      same in US..
      - hmd_imputer 8y ago
        I would guess so. However, the original comment I replied claimed that businesses pay even less than private citizens.
    - Faaak 8y ago
      It is the case in France and Switzerland, at least.
- gambiting 8y ago
  Even in the regulation-stricken UK, it's fully legal to work from your private home (so called "clerical" work). And fyi, something being against the contract is not automatically illegal.
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    Leaseholds often excludes business activities as does home insurance.
    - gambiting 8y ago
      Yes, you can't register a company at your home address, but no one will ever deny you coverage if you do clerical work at home. At least every single insurance and rental I had in UK had a special provision for this - if you need to stay at home and work remotely, that's 100% covered. It just can't be your principal place of work.
      - masklinn 8y ago
        > It just can't be your principal place of work. Does that mean it doesn't allow 100% remote work (where you always work from home but are an employee)?
        gambiting 8y ago
        That's where it becomes fuzzy and no contract in the world will define this precisely.
      - thaumasiotes 8y ago
        What kind of insurance are you talking about here? Wouldn't increased presence in the home make any mishaps less likely?
        gambiting 8y ago
        Contents & Home insurance - and I guess yes and no. Probably lowers the chance of theft claims, but increases slightly the chance of fire damage and accidental damage to contents. Don't have the actual data to back this up though.
- hmd_imputer 8y ago
  the lack of strict regulations is one of the reasons start-up businesses flourish in the US. Although I am pro-regulation in some issues, I think that European style pain-in-the-ass regulations only hinder technological advancement. Would UBER ever be successful in Europe? Nope.
  - shp0ngle 8y ago
    ...uber is successful in Europe. There are cities that banned it, but there are as many that didn't. Conversely, Uber is not very successful in South-East Asia, but not for the abundance of regulation but for the lack of it - Grab, a local copy-paste of Uber, has become so dominant that Uber had to leave most of the markets there
    - hmd_imputer 8y ago
      yeap, the ones who didn't ban are the ones who didn't apply all these useless strict regulations. In Germany, it is still not possible to take an Uber ride, for example. Besides, if it started in Europe as a small start-up it would be killed right away with tons of regulations anyways. So the only reason that you have Uber in Europe is that it has become a giant company in the US, due fertile environment, and thus could afford all these legal battles to enter the market. South-East Asia is a different story. It has nothing to do with regulations at all. It is just a completely different mindset there. The fact is though, businesses in those countries can easily flourish as well.
      - 131012 8y ago
        And they make a lot of direct lobbying toward local government to make sure they don't enforce existing taxi laws.
        hmd_imputer 8y ago
        which they should, don't you think? sometimes being disruptive is the only way to go.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  Gray area I'm sure, in this case, the electrical company wouldn't know. Is it legal in the US to use regular cars for taxi purposes? Operating a taxi without a taxi license? Operating a hotel without a hotel license? It's companies like these, and uber, and airb&b, etc that skirt around the laws.
- ptero 8y ago
  Even if so, I doubt electric company would ever call anyone on that -- that would just be inviting black PR: "you burn coal, and prohibit charging our eco-friendly scooters", "go fix ingesting my solar power into your system first", etc. -- possibly not completely correct, but painful still. Plus, an electric company might love this: more customers, with demand at off-peak hours that might even slightly reduce the need for energy storage.
mrarjen 8y ago
I think some better vetting of hunters and maybe capping the amount of people for area's to hunt for them would be a start? Seems now it's a wild west when it comes to who gets at them first.
- chrisseaton 8y ago
  > Seems now it's a wild west when it comes to who gets at them first. Why’s that a problem for the companies though?
  - icantdrive55 8y ago
    I have a feeling the article is written by a Stephen Glass wannbee? "“I think it’s really fun,” says Lucas. “I’ll probably go charging this weekend.” This weekend, the independent movie premiere will be showing at Iwantclicksbuthavenorealnewsstories. "So--rent a Charger, and be a "Charger"? (The posts on HN are seemingly getting bad, or being gamed? When it turns into Reddit, I'll be glad. It will be one less addiction in my life? This is the evolution of most successful sites? The masses ruin it? It might be the only reason to keep coding sites? Even the vanity sites? Afterall, this is a vanity site, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I just mean there is always room for more sites/apps, when the big money takes a eye off of quality?)
  - croon 8y ago
    If your company decides on a PR stunt on 5th avenue by spraying the streets full of dollar bills, creating a riot, I'm pretty sure you're liable.
  - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
    They end up paying more to recovery people than they're earning from people renting the things and after a few recoveries, more than the scooters are worth.
    - chrisseaton 8y ago
      Why does it cost you more if people are competing? I think you only pay the successful one.
indescions_2018 8y ago
Gamification. Pure and simple. Even the kids liken it to "getting paid to find rare Pokemon Go". One could even go so far as to find linear optimizations for max network paths ;) What sweetens the incentive is the "instant" cash transfer within 5 hours or so of drop-off. Mobile micro-work at scale is not only tenable. But may be the preferred operandus of labor market participants.

jlebar 8y ago

There headline may be a slang reference, "out of control" = "awesome" or "dope".

TorKlingberg 8y ago
The title of the article used to be "Who Charges Those Electric Bird Scooters?"

piokoch 8y ago

Is it legal in US to use electricity at home for business purposes? In some countries that's against contract with electricity provider, as they have different tariffs for business.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Faaak 8y ago
In general business tariffs are lower, so I don't see the problem.
- dufferzone 8y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYf_TBLnPQE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYf_TBLnPQE
- hmd_imputer 8y ago
  nope, not in Europe. Businesses have to pay a lot more than private residences.
  - denimnerd 8y ago
    same in US..
    - hmd_imputer 8y ago
      I would guess so. However, the original comment I replied claimed that businesses pay even less than private citizens.
  - Faaak 8y ago
    It is the case in France and Switzerland, at least.
gambiting 8y ago
Even in the regulation-stricken UK, it's fully legal to work from your private home (so called "clerical" work). And fyi, something being against the contract is not automatically illegal.
- pbhjpbhj 8y ago
  Leaseholds often excludes business activities as does home insurance.
  - gambiting 8y ago
    Yes, you can't register a company at your home address, but no one will ever deny you coverage if you do clerical work at home. At least every single insurance and rental I had in UK had a special provision for this - if you need to stay at home and work remotely, that's 100% covered. It just can't be your principal place of work.
    - masklinn 8y ago
      > It just can't be your principal place of work. Does that mean it doesn't allow 100% remote work (where you always work from home but are an employee)?
      - gambiting 8y ago
        That's where it becomes fuzzy and no contract in the world will define this precisely.
    - thaumasiotes 8y ago
      What kind of insurance are you talking about here? Wouldn't increased presence in the home make any mishaps less likely?
      - gambiting 8y ago
        Contents & Home insurance - and I guess yes and no. Probably lowers the chance of theft claims, but increases slightly the chance of fire damage and accidental damage to contents. Don't have the actual data to back this up though.
hmd_imputer 8y ago
the lack of strict regulations is one of the reasons start-up businesses flourish in the US. Although I am pro-regulation in some issues, I think that European style pain-in-the-ass regulations only hinder technological advancement. Would UBER ever be successful in Europe? Nope.
- shp0ngle 8y ago
  ...uber is successful in Europe. There are cities that banned it, but there are as many that didn't. Conversely, Uber is not very successful in South-East Asia, but not for the abundance of regulation but for the lack of it - Grab, a local copy-paste of Uber, has become so dominant that Uber had to leave most of the markets there
  - hmd_imputer 8y ago
    yeap, the ones who didn't ban are the ones who didn't apply all these useless strict regulations. In Germany, it is still not possible to take an Uber ride, for example. Besides, if it started in Europe as a small start-up it would be killed right away with tons of regulations anyways. So the only reason that you have Uber in Europe is that it has become a giant company in the US, due fertile environment, and thus could afford all these legal battles to enter the market. South-East Asia is a different story. It has nothing to do with regulations at all. It is just a completely different mindset there. The fact is though, businesses in those countries can easily flourish as well.
    - 131012 8y ago
      And they make a lot of direct lobbying toward local government to make sure they don't enforce existing taxi laws.
      - hmd_imputer 8y ago
        which they should, don't you think? sometimes being disruptive is the only way to go.
Cthulhu_ 8y ago
Gray area I'm sure, in this case, the electrical company wouldn't know. Is it legal in the US to use regular cars for taxi purposes? Operating a taxi without a taxi license? Operating a hotel without a hotel license? It's companies like these, and uber, and airb&b, etc that skirt around the laws.
ptero 8y ago
Even if so, I doubt electric company would ever call anyone on that -- that would just be inviting black PR: "you burn coal, and prohibit charging our eco-friendly scooters", "go fix ingesting my solar power into your system first", etc. -- possibly not completely correct, but painful still. Plus, an electric company might love this: more customers, with demand at off-peak hours that might even slightly reduce the need for energy storage.

mrarjen 8y ago

I think some better vetting of hunters and maybe capping the amount of people for area's to hunt for them would be a start? Seems now it's a wild west when it comes to who gets at them first.

chrisseaton 8y ago
> Seems now it's a wild west when it comes to who gets at them first. Why’s that a problem for the companies though?
- icantdrive55 8y ago
  I have a feeling the article is written by a Stephen Glass wannbee? "“I think it’s really fun,” says Lucas. “I’ll probably go charging this weekend.” This weekend, the independent movie premiere will be showing at Iwantclicksbuthavenorealnewsstories. "So--rent a Charger, and be a "Charger"? (The posts on HN are seemingly getting bad, or being gamed? When it turns into Reddit, I'll be glad. It will be one less addiction in my life? This is the evolution of most successful sites? The masses ruin it? It might be the only reason to keep coding sites? Even the vanity sites? Afterall, this is a vanity site, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I just mean there is always room for more sites/apps, when the big money takes a eye off of quality?)
- croon 8y ago
  If your company decides on a PR stunt on 5th avenue by spraying the streets full of dollar bills, creating a riot, I'm pretty sure you're liable.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  They end up paying more to recovery people than they're earning from people renting the things and after a few recoveries, more than the scooters are worth.
  - chrisseaton 8y ago
    Why does it cost you more if people are competing? I think you only pay the successful one.

indescions_2018 8y ago

Gamification. Pure and simple. Even the kids liken it to "getting paid to find rare Pokemon Go". One could even go so far as to find linear optimizations for max network paths ;) What sweetens the incentive is the "instant" cash transfer within 5 hours or so of drop-off. Mobile micro-work at scale is not only tenable. But may be the preferred operandus of labor market participants.