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Doctorow, per usual, writes with the certainty of an out of shape sportswriter playing Monday morning quarterback. He just doesn't know what he's talking about.
by jelling 8y ago
Doctorow, per usual, writes with the certainty of an out of shape sportswriter playing Monday morning quarterback. He just doesn't know what he's talking about.
For example, he says "Uber...allows them to illegally discriminate against people with disabilities" Does he really not know the long history of cab drivers not stopping for black passengers? This has been frontpage news on multiple occasions, most famously with Danny Glover. Multiple friends have told me how much Uber/Lyft have improved this situation.
Meanwhile, Doctorow's meta platform idea literally steals revenue from people who have added tremendous value not only at time of transaction but after via the reputational system and other customer service functions. Nevermind that it would be trivial for Uber to squash this via cancellation fees and driver derankings.
If you want to form a co-op app, go for it. But find a better thought leader than Doctorow.
- yipbub 8y agoMost of the people who actually put work into it don't make their money from profits. Their salaries are paid. Plus, these companies basically burn VC money to starve competition.
- cribbles 8y agoThe racist cab pickup issue occurred to me too, but it’s not in conflict with his overall argument. Doctorow allows that the ride hailing app experience (not to be mistaken with to the “ride sharing” business model) is, in most respects, a foundational improvement upon the old taxi pickup experience. This is not mutually exclusive with the claim that Uber, et al.’s business practices (i.e. circumvention of any and all possible tax and labor laws) introduce a unique set of problems for riders and drivers alike.
- jelling 8y agoYou may be right about the tax issues. My criticism was of his attempt to hang all of society's ills on Uber/Lyft/etc... It's inaccurate at best.
- sangnoir 8y agoHe never said taxis were great- did you miss this: > Uber (and its Peter-Thiel-backed rival Lyft) are not good companies. They’re not forces for good. But the system they killed? Also not good.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- adisinom 8y agoAs a deaf person, hailing a ride by phone is much better than a taxi. But I also have friends who use wheelchairs frustrated by Uber's unresponsiveness to addressing accessibility; Uber just claims the drivers are independent contractors and so it's not Uber's responsibility. I felt Doctorow's piece addressed the nuance of Uber bringing both improvements and regressions.