6 ms·

I've found myself drinking someone's branding kool-aid before, and this is how it happened. You think to yourself what you've just laid out, that this is so obv

I've found myself drinking someone's branding kool-aid before, and this is how it happened. You think to yourself what you've just laid out, that this is so obvious a seven year old should know better. So obvious, in fact, that it can't be real. "This is just an unmarked taxi." "No, we're way different." You think to yourself how no one could be that blatant, and you notice other people are buying into it, so you start to question you own worldview. Then it reaches a critical mass, where there's enough self-perpetuation to make you throw skepticism to the wind. And after some time, after seeing a few cracks in the brand, you think to yourself, god damn it, should have stuck to my guns.

jandrese 8y ago
Or: "This is just an unmarked taxi." "Except hailing/billing isn't stuck in the past so you don't have to get lucky to find an empty one on the street or call a surly dispatcher and wait 45 minutes. You also get the bill up front so you know how much it will cost before you even say yes. You can always pay by credit card too, you'll never arrive at the destination and then only be informed that the credit card reader is 'broken' and the cabbie can only accept cash. Added bonus: it's about half the price of a regular taxi." "Cool"
- RHSeeger 8y ago
  Your experience is almost exactly the opposite of mine. 1. Without fail, taking Uber costs me more than taking a taxi, same trip, same time of day. 2. The bill up front point is fair 3. As far as paying by credit card, know the rules of your city. In many cities, they must take credit cards or are not allowed to drive. As such, if they tell you at the end of the trip that you must pay cash, just tell them you can't. If they won't let you pay by credit then, just walk away. Even if it's not a city where they have to accept credit, just tell them you don't have cash and stick to it. If their credit machine really wasn't working, they should/would have told you at the beginning of the trip. 4. I never have a problem getting a cab (though, to be fair, I only do it in NYC... they're everywhere)
  - ryanwaggoner 8y ago
    I live in NYC and Uber / Lyft are sometimes cheaper and sometimes more expensive. Their premium is correlated with how hard it'll be to catch a cab. So if it's raining, it'll be hard to catch a cab. Uber / Lyft will be more expensive than a cab, but easier to take. UberPool and Lyft's equivalent are basically always cheaper though, and I've found they work very well in Manhattan.
- pesmhey 8y ago
  It's definitely better, no arguments here. My point is that Silicon Valley has branded everything it does as 'tech' when in reality, it's just a better taxi company, a better hotel company, etc. unencumbered by the old ways. Like, the reality would have been good enough, 'We're a taxi (or insert whatever industry you want) company doing things way better than before." Instead, it's 'We're using algorithms and this shit is out of this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
  - nipponese 8y ago
    There is something about traditional engineering culture that sees marketing as big lie, but one of the reasons these companies have been so successful at transitioning public opinion is because they treat the whole business as iterative. Instead of thinking "boring finance dept" and "slimey marketing guys", they think "financial and social engineering".
    - TeMPOraL 8y ago
      > Instead of thinking (...) "slimey marketing guys", they think "financial and social engineering". That sounds even worse to me. "Turning lying and scamming people into an engineering discipline".
    - eli_gottlieb 8y ago
      >Instead of thinking "boring finance dept" and "slimey marketing guys", they think "financial and social engineering". I concur with that sounding much worse. I like my lizards to be green and scaly, not wearing people-suits.
  - lotsofpulp 8y ago
    I would classify using GPS, internet, apps, servers, mapping algorithms, pricing algorithms, etc to be tech. Not sure how much more tech you would want, but certainly not a regular taxi company doing things better, it’s changing the basic mechanics of how taxis used to work.
  - ryanwaggoner 8y ago
    I think that's really unfair to what Uber has built. I routinely take UberPool in Manhattan for 30-40 minutes during rush hour for around $5. Along the way, it's not uncommon to share the car with another 4-6 passengers, as people are picked up and dropped off along the way. That's not just a better taxi company, that's a whole new modality of transportation that's only possible because of technology.
- Spivak 8y ago
  Which is another way of saying that, yes, it is just an unmarked taxi but with a different way of doing business. Look, I'm totally cool with businesses essentially protesting stifling regulation by loudly ignoring them and providing better service. But once you get the regulators' attention you need to be willing to sit down with them and hash out the details of what needs to change.
  - ticmasta 8y ago
    Well, that may be true if you're building a better transportation company, but why should a lowly mobile app company have to get embroiled in all that regulation when all they do is facilitate a 3rd party transaction? </s>

jandrese 8y ago

Or: "This is just an unmarked taxi." "Except hailing/billing isn't stuck in the past so you don't have to get lucky to find an empty one on the street or call a surly dispatcher and wait 45 minutes. You also get the bill up front so you know how much it will cost before you even say yes. You can always pay by credit card too, you'll never arrive at the destination and then only be informed that the credit card reader is 'broken' and the cabbie can only accept cash. Added bonus: it's about half the price of a regular taxi." "Cool"

RHSeeger 8y ago
Your experience is almost exactly the opposite of mine. 1. Without fail, taking Uber costs me more than taking a taxi, same trip, same time of day. 2. The bill up front point is fair 3. As far as paying by credit card, know the rules of your city. In many cities, they must take credit cards or are not allowed to drive. As such, if they tell you at the end of the trip that you must pay cash, just tell them you can't. If they won't let you pay by credit then, just walk away. Even if it's not a city where they have to accept credit, just tell them you don't have cash and stick to it. If their credit machine really wasn't working, they should/would have told you at the beginning of the trip. 4. I never have a problem getting a cab (though, to be fair, I only do it in NYC... they're everywhere)
- ryanwaggoner 8y ago
  I live in NYC and Uber / Lyft are sometimes cheaper and sometimes more expensive. Their premium is correlated with how hard it'll be to catch a cab. So if it's raining, it'll be hard to catch a cab. Uber / Lyft will be more expensive than a cab, but easier to take. UberPool and Lyft's equivalent are basically always cheaper though, and I've found they work very well in Manhattan.
pesmhey 8y ago
It's definitely better, no arguments here. My point is that Silicon Valley has branded everything it does as 'tech' when in reality, it's just a better taxi company, a better hotel company, etc. unencumbered by the old ways. Like, the reality would have been good enough, 'We're a taxi (or insert whatever industry you want) company doing things way better than before." Instead, it's 'We're using algorithms and this shit is out of this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
- nipponese 8y ago
  There is something about traditional engineering culture that sees marketing as big lie, but one of the reasons these companies have been so successful at transitioning public opinion is because they treat the whole business as iterative. Instead of thinking "boring finance dept" and "slimey marketing guys", they think "financial and social engineering".
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    > Instead of thinking (...) "slimey marketing guys", they think "financial and social engineering". That sounds even worse to me. "Turning lying and scamming people into an engineering discipline".
  - eli_gottlieb 8y ago
    >Instead of thinking "boring finance dept" and "slimey marketing guys", they think "financial and social engineering". I concur with that sounding much worse. I like my lizards to be green and scaly, not wearing people-suits.
- lotsofpulp 8y ago
  I would classify using GPS, internet, apps, servers, mapping algorithms, pricing algorithms, etc to be tech. Not sure how much more tech you would want, but certainly not a regular taxi company doing things better, it’s changing the basic mechanics of how taxis used to work.
- ryanwaggoner 8y ago
  I think that's really unfair to what Uber has built. I routinely take UberPool in Manhattan for 30-40 minutes during rush hour for around $5. Along the way, it's not uncommon to share the car with another 4-6 passengers, as people are picked up and dropped off along the way. That's not just a better taxi company, that's a whole new modality of transportation that's only possible because of technology.
Spivak 8y ago
Which is another way of saying that, yes, it is just an unmarked taxi but with a different way of doing business. Look, I'm totally cool with businesses essentially protesting stifling regulation by loudly ignoring them and providing better service. But once you get the regulators' attention you need to be willing to sit down with them and hash out the details of what needs to change.
- ticmasta 8y ago
  Well, that may be true if you're building a better transportation company, but why should a lowly mobile app company have to get embroiled in all that regulation when all they do is facilitate a 3rd party transaction? </s>