5 ms·

Do you really believe that Uber is run on a technology stack that is 40-50 years old? It’s not just real time but streaming data. Handling millions of concurre

by tempsy 7y ago

Do you really believe that Uber is run on a technology stack that is 40-50 years old? It’s not just real time but streaming data. Handling millions of concurrent trips, and processing all those trips in real time is not something that any of the industries you’ve mentioned do.

goatinaboat 7y ago
Do you really believe that Uber is run on a technology stack that is 40-50 years old? Of course not, but I do believe - because it’s demonstrably true - that those challenges are not unique to Uber, and that they have been solved many, many times over. For example sure, Uber handles a lot of trips. But every one of those trips is backed by a credit card processor, without the latter even breaking a sweat. I guarantee that Mastercard or whoever barely even notices the additional workload they get from Uber.
- adt2bt 7y ago
  You’re correct, the transactional part is true, but MasterCard is following a relatively basic process: 1. Authenticate the transaction (is this ‘uber’ Company ok and is it reasonable this user is using it for fraud detection) 2. Check that the users balance + the cost of the trip < the users credit limit 3. Post the change to a transaction log 4. Some hours/days later, finalize the pending transactions. That’s a whole lot simpler (outside of fraud detection) than what Uber has to do to get you from A to B. *edited for formatting
legulere 7y ago
x86 is 41 years old, which Uber uses for sure. Newer often doesn’t mean better or better enough. Telephone companies have been streaming voice data for millions of people with a reliability that I haven’t seen from any modern internet service.
Barrin92 7y ago
This whole situation is really funny because it looks a little bit like VC funded companies slowly discovering why soviet planning doesn't work. We already had figured out how to move people around in cars in a way that doesn't require software at all, it's called a market and taxis have operated in it for a really long time. Uber is going to figure out shortly why there wasn't a giant taxi monopoly on the planet before they existed.
geofft 7y ago
The question is not whether it is, it's whether it could be. Here's an example: the stock exchanges also need to handle huge amounts of concurrent and real-time data (with much greater constraints on latency and correctness and linearizability than Uber's customers demand). They're not running on literally unchanged 50-year-old tech any more, but they're also not doing the sort of technology innovation that Uber's doing, and they're doing just fine.

by tempsy 7y ago

goatinaboat 7y ago

Do you really believe that Uber is run on a technology stack that is 40-50 years old? Of course not, but I do believe - because it’s demonstrably true - that those challenges are not unique to Uber, and that they have been solved many, many times over. For example sure, Uber handles a lot of trips. But every one of those trips is backed by a credit card processor, without the latter even breaking a sweat. I guarantee that Mastercard or whoever barely even notices the additional workload they get from Uber.

adt2bt 7y ago
You’re correct, the transactional part is true, but MasterCard is following a relatively basic process: 1. Authenticate the transaction (is this ‘uber’ Company ok and is it reasonable this user is using it for fraud detection) 2. Check that the users balance + the cost of the trip < the users credit limit 3. Post the change to a transaction log 4. Some hours/days later, finalize the pending transactions. That’s a whole lot simpler (outside of fraud detection) than what Uber has to do to get you from A to B. *edited for formatting

legulere 7y ago

x86 is 41 years old, which Uber uses for sure. Newer often doesn’t mean better or better enough. Telephone companies have been streaming voice data for millions of people with a reliability that I haven’t seen from any modern internet service.

Barrin92 7y ago

This whole situation is really funny because it looks a little bit like VC funded companies slowly discovering why soviet planning doesn't work. We already had figured out how to move people around in cars in a way that doesn't require software at all, it's called a market and taxis have operated in it for a really long time. Uber is going to figure out shortly why there wasn't a giant taxi monopoly on the planet before they existed.

geofft 7y ago

The question is not whether it is, it's whether it could be. Here's an example: the stock exchanges also need to handle huge amounts of concurrent and real-time data (with much greater constraints on latency and correctness and linearizability than Uber's customers demand). They're not running on literally unchanged 50-year-old tech any more, but they're also not doing the sort of technology innovation that Uber's doing, and they're doing just fine.