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What about the people in the industries being 'disrupted' by the strategy of flooding the market with unsustainably-cheap products or services (e.g. taxi driver
by joosters 8y ago
What about the people in the industries being 'disrupted' by the strategy of flooding the market with unsustainably-cheap products or services (e.g. taxi drivers being undercut by Uber) ?
- scarface74 8y agoI honestly have no idea how much taxi fares are and have only used a Taxi when I was in New York in 2012. Before Uber, I would rent a car at the airport. How many people use Uber for the convenience and are not price sensitive? How many people use Uber who have cars but use it so they won’t risk getting a DUI? Heck we use it just when we don’t feel like going through the hassle of parking and dealing with traffic when we go into the city center from the burbs sometimes.
- barry-cotter 8y agoFuck taxi drivers and their entire industry. Fuck their lying about someone being there in 15 minutes for four hours. Fuck their “broken” credit card machine. Fuck hailing a taxi while black. Fuck a regulator that does their best to make filing a complaint impossible. Fuck trying to get s taxi to travel to an area that they are legally required to serve but they just refuse to go to. It is an enormous pity that the taxi industry has not been disrupted more. If better service in every possible way is what disruption looks like count me in. Bring it on.
- danaris 8y agoBut this is not a structural problem with the taxi industry: it is a problem with the current implementation in certain areas. Other places have recognized the need to make taxi service more modern and less horrible and made changes—having their own ride-hailing apps for the local taxi service, for instance. Not everywhere is New York City.
- barry-cotter 8y agoIndeed, not everywhere is New York City. Some places are worse, like San Francisco. Possibly there are places that are worse again. Certainly I would never get a taxi in Southeast Asia if I could possibly get an Uber.
- danaris 8y agoThe point is that there's no specific reason that the taxi industry "deserves" to be terminated with extreme prejudice by disruptive startups. Even given its current state in the places you name, I don't believe that justifies handing over billions of dollars to sleazes like the ones at Uber, especially given that the people who do the actual work to make them that money are often working at what works out to less than minimum wage. Two wrongs don't make a right.