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I think there's some truth that these guys dodge/ignore/lobby down regulations, but there's this narrative now that that's all they do. Being able to flag a tax

I think there's some truth that these guys dodge/ignore/lobby down regulations, but there's this narrative now that that's all they do. Being able to flag a taxi through an app is amazing, so is being able to rent a flat from a stranger with confidence that it will be give and work out. Regulation arbitrage is only a fraction of their value, and the regulations are often just rent seeking by those with power. Insane taxi Union/medallions, ban on flat renting to preserve property values etc.

justtopost 8y ago
Its not all they do. But it is the bedrock on which their whole profit model is based. So critisism seems apt. I find corprate overrule of law for 'benefit' of the consumer facinating, but dont have a dog in the fight. But I can't help feeling its like shooting the moon in a card game. It only works when unexpected, and already on a roll.
lexs 8y ago
At least in Europe there were apps to call a taxi and sites to book vacation homes before either Uber or AirBnB came over. But sure ruthlessly minimising personnel responsibilities and costs can be another "value".
- vasilipupkin 8y ago
  Not like Airbnb. We had sites like VRBO before Airbnb. The big difference was that you deal with Airbnb, you aren’t signing contract with the host.
- the_clarence 8y ago
  Come on. These apps were not reliable AT ALL. There is no comparison here.
- meowface 8y ago
  As someone currently living in a German area with almost no Uber service, mytaxi (the equivalent Uber-like taxi app) is inferior to and much less reliable and functional than Uber and Lyft.
  - timmy-turner 8y ago
    I tried mytaxi during a vacation in Italy. Went through the whole onboarding, including checking the trips expected fare and entering CC details only to get told after pressing the 'call taxi now' button by a popup that the service is not available in this area. WTF? Also the whole app looked very cheap and felt fragile. In my hometown I'm just calling taxis off the street or via plain old phone.
- presscast 8y ago
  >At least in Europe there were apps to call a taxi Where? In France the taxis never accepted debit cards (= tax evasion), and generally provided piss-poor service. They've stepped their game up massively since Uber arrived. In the UK I never saw a taxi app that wasn't an utter heap of garbage. Sweeping generalizations about EU countries are almost always wrong or meaningless.
  - rusk 8y ago
    > In the UK I never saw a taxi app that wasn't an utter heap of garbage. Hold on now. Hailo was amazing. Pity they broke themselves trying to take on the big apple.
    - presscast 8y ago
      Really? On par with Uber? Because that's the goalpost that's been set, here. Hailo was often fully booked when I tried using it, and I had several previous-day reservations evaporate into thin air. It wasn't (as) reliable. London taxis have always been slightly better than the FR/ES/BG/IT taxis I've taken, but not that much better. And the apps have either gone bust, not worked, or both.
      - rusk 8y ago
        Yeah Hailo worked flawlessly for me here in Dublin. Right up until they started to flail commercially.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- ur-whale 8y ago
  You quite clearly never lived in Europe. Taxi apps before Uber were either non-existent (still are for most places) or unusable.
  - briandear 8y ago
    ..in the case my my experience living in the south of France, taxis wouldn’t show up at all. That happened to me more frequently than they actually showed up.
  - dang 8y ago
    > You quite clearly never lived in Europe. Can you please edit personal provocations like that out of your posts to HN? They add no information and are often wrong. The comment would be fine with just the second sentence.
- inostia 8y ago
  I took a MyTaxi in Germany and it was terrible. I absolutely missed Uber when I was in Berlin, MyTaxi was a joke, same with most other taxi apps (i.e. Flywheel here in the Bay Area)

justtopost 8y ago

Its not all they do. But it is the bedrock on which their whole profit model is based. So critisism seems apt. I find corprate overrule of law for 'benefit' of the consumer facinating, but dont have a dog in the fight. But I can't help feeling its like shooting the moon in a card game. It only works when unexpected, and already on a roll.

lexs 8y ago

At least in Europe there were apps to call a taxi and sites to book vacation homes before either Uber or AirBnB came over. But sure ruthlessly minimising personnel responsibilities and costs can be another "value".

vasilipupkin 8y ago
Not like Airbnb. We had sites like VRBO before Airbnb. The big difference was that you deal with Airbnb, you aren’t signing contract with the host.
the_clarence 8y ago
Come on. These apps were not reliable AT ALL. There is no comparison here.
meowface 8y ago
As someone currently living in a German area with almost no Uber service, mytaxi (the equivalent Uber-like taxi app) is inferior to and much less reliable and functional than Uber and Lyft.
- timmy-turner 8y ago
  I tried mytaxi during a vacation in Italy. Went through the whole onboarding, including checking the trips expected fare and entering CC details only to get told after pressing the 'call taxi now' button by a popup that the service is not available in this area. WTF? Also the whole app looked very cheap and felt fragile. In my hometown I'm just calling taxis off the street or via plain old phone.
presscast 8y ago
>At least in Europe there were apps to call a taxi Where? In France the taxis never accepted debit cards (= tax evasion), and generally provided piss-poor service. They've stepped their game up massively since Uber arrived. In the UK I never saw a taxi app that wasn't an utter heap of garbage. Sweeping generalizations about EU countries are almost always wrong or meaningless.
- rusk 8y ago
  > In the UK I never saw a taxi app that wasn't an utter heap of garbage. Hold on now. Hailo was amazing. Pity they broke themselves trying to take on the big apple.
  - presscast 8y ago
    Really? On par with Uber? Because that's the goalpost that's been set, here. Hailo was often fully booked when I tried using it, and I had several previous-day reservations evaporate into thin air. It wasn't (as) reliable. London taxis have always been slightly better than the FR/ES/BG/IT taxis I've taken, but not that much better. And the apps have either gone bust, not worked, or both.
    - rusk 8y ago
      Yeah Hailo worked flawlessly for me here in Dublin. Right up until they started to flail commercially.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
ur-whale 8y ago
You quite clearly never lived in Europe. Taxi apps before Uber were either non-existent (still are for most places) or unusable.
- briandear 8y ago
  ..in the case my my experience living in the south of France, taxis wouldn’t show up at all. That happened to me more frequently than they actually showed up.
- dang 8y ago
  > You quite clearly never lived in Europe. Can you please edit personal provocations like that out of your posts to HN? They add no information and are often wrong. The comment would be fine with just the second sentence.
inostia 8y ago
I took a MyTaxi in Germany and it was terrible. I absolutely missed Uber when I was in Berlin, MyTaxi was a joke, same with most other taxi apps (i.e. Flywheel here in the Bay Area)