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And that's a bad thing? Startups in general seem to benefit just one category of people: investors, and it's usually to the detriment of Joe B. Average who hap
by stephenr 8y ago
And that's a bad thing?
Startups in general seem to benefit just one category of people: investors, and it's usually to the detriment of Joe B. Average who happened to use their product/service.
- dantheman 8y agoI don't know anyone who would choose a taxi over lyft or uber even if it was cheaper. Taxis are terrible.
- stephenr 8y agoI don't use taxis a lot. I have had a car and a licence basically since I was 17, but when I have had to use them, they've mostly been fine. Mostly to or from an airport/hotel. One nearly killed me, but I don't judge all other drivers by his lack of sleep/attention/whatever prescription drugs he relies on to stay awake. My issue with uber/etc is that they spend more money, campaigning against laws that would require background checks for their drivers, than it would cost for them to actually do the background checks. If that doesn't raise some questions for you, you may as well just look for vans with "free candy" spray painted on the side, I'm sure they'll be great. "Taxis are terrible" is such a vague blanket statement its almost meaningless.
- nitrogen 8y agoUber/Lyft are great for getting between two points in an overcrowded city where you would neither be able to park your own car nor hail a taxi. Taxis are terrible because of the lack of convenience and lack of a rider rating system.
- rescbr 8y agoAnd then you have apps (at least outside the US) for hailing taxis with the same UX for Uber. In some countries the Uber app hails taxis too.
- stephenr 8y ago> Uber/Lyft are great for getting between two points in an overcrowded city where you would neither be able to park your own car nor hail a taxi I've literally never "hailed" a taxi in my life - I've either gotten in one at a rank (i.e. at an airport) or called for one in advance (i.e. at a hotel). Even as someone who uses taxis very rarely, I'm well aware of taxi booking apps both here in Thailand and in Australia. Your argument is essentially "American taxis are crap, therefore uber is good for breaking the law". Why exactly couldn't Uber have just operated as a better taxi company? Oh right. Because then they'd have to follow the laws, and pay the drivers an actual income.
- striking 8y agoI believe you're missing a few things, considering taxi medallions are basically impossible to come by, and that what taxi driving laws here in the US allow are not incredibly unlike what Uber does to its drivers.
- stephenr 8y ago> I believe you're missing a few things, considering taxi medallions are basically impossible to come by You mean none of the existing holders will sell them? $22B. Twenty two billion fucking dollars. That's how much VC money has been pumped into this bullshit company. And you're saying they can't buy some taxi medallions?
- SpelingBeeChamp 8y agoI think the answer is yes. (Or more accurately, not enough to be competitive.)
- the_clarence 8y agoWhy would they? Medallions are a MLM
- dang 8y agoCan you please not post acerbic rants to HN?
- jonnycomputer 8y agotaxis aren't terrible. the distribution of medallions in most cities is the problem.
- the_clarence 8y agoTaxis are terrible.
- the_clarence 8y agoNo. They benefit their customers and their investors. There investors usually one or two digits so its negligible.
- stephenr 8y agoWould that be the customers whose private data is surreptitiously gathered and analysed and re-analysed, to show some kind of 'value' to investors, or would it be the customers who use a service, and then find it's cancelled with one months notice, because it turns out you can't just keep spending someone else's money and hope for it to become profitable by magic?