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So much excitement here for what? Just seems like fluff to get them into the news cycle. They commit(whatever that means) to using only electric cars in 10 ye

by Zhenya 6y ago

So much excitement here for what? Just seems like fluff to get them into the news cycle. They commit(whatever that means) to using only electric cars in 10 years. This is a big fat nothingburger.

cryptoz 6y ago
> So much excitement here for what? Corporate action on climate is needed. Also I don't see _any_ excitement in this thread, mostly negativity and lukewarm reaction, sarcasm, etc. > Just seems like fluff to get them into the news cycle. Not to me, do you have anything to back this up? Why would Lyft care about the news cycle? > They commit(whatever that means) to using only electric cars in 10 years. The meaning is pretty clear. > This is a big fat nothingburger. This kind of namecalling and negative attitude really doesn't belong on HN. You have copy+pasted this comment all over the thread, why? I've flagged and downvoted
- Zhenya 6y ago
  I posted it twice. And I will go line by line: Corporate action in 10 years by a company that encourages the disuse of public transport. News cycle: Uber/Lyft volume is very low. Get in the news and get folks to start using Lyft as restrictions end. "we are good, we are saving the climate" What's the meaning? Is it binding? Is it legal? Or is it just words that they can walk back at any moment for any reason or just forget the made this claim. It's not name calling; I'm pointing out this is fluff and pretty much does not mean anything. Thanks for your input and vote.
  - cryptoz 6y ago
    > Corporate action in 10 years by a company that encourages the disuse of public transport. I don't understand your point here. Lyft also discourages car ownership. What should any of this matter? Why does it matter what their customers incentives might be when discussing their corporate climate action? Are you stating that lyft is bad for the environment and climate change overall, and would still be bad after this change? I just don't get how these things are related. > News cycle: Uber/Lyft volume is very low. Get in the news and get folks to start using Lyft as restrictions end. "we are good, we are saving the climate" People are just desperate to get out and do things. I don't think that lyft making headlines online or on TV is going to matter much for that and I don't think their marketing department would think so either. This sounds like a conspiracy theory that Lyft does not operate in good faith and is rather trying to trick everyone all the time. It just seems unfounded and weird. > What's the meaning? Is it binding? Is it legal? Or is it just words that they can walk back at any moment for any reason or just forget the made this claim. I'm sure it is binding. If they do not make strong efforts towards meeting these goals, surely the shareholders would sue? I would! > It's not name calling; I'm pointing out this is fluff and pretty much does not mean anything. "big fat nothingburger" is the definition of name calling and rude behavior. It just doesn't belong here. You also didn't address that there is literally 0 excitement here. There are 0 comments that I would rank as any level of "excited". I don't want to accuse you of lying, but, can you source what you mean by "excitement here"? It just doesn't seem real to me.
aeturnum 6y ago
It's a commitment. It is not action, but that's not a flaw. They serve two different purposes. Commitments are how companies orient themselves to the future while leaving open the possibility that things might change. They give people a frame to be critical of or complementary towards future actions. I see many comments on HN saying we should not critique company Y for thing A because company Y is in the business of doing B, not A. This is Lyft saying they are in the business of doing electric cars. It's ambiguous and uncertain what that means now, but is a theme to compare future actions against. To look back to a previous instance: when Google set "don't be evil" as their slogan, they suggested that they were interested in ethical critiques. I think experience has shown them to both consistently fall short of that slogan and also be more responsive to ethical critiques than, say, Palantir or Facebook. I would expect this Lyft statement to play out similarly. I'm not excited by this statement, but it's not nothing.

by Zhenya 6y ago

So much excitement here for what? Just seems like fluff to get them into the news cycle. They commit(whatever that means) to using only electric cars in 10 years. This is a big fat nothingburger.

cryptoz 6y ago

> So much excitement here for what? Corporate action on climate is needed. Also I don't see _any_ excitement in this thread, mostly negativity and lukewarm reaction, sarcasm, etc. > Just seems like fluff to get them into the news cycle. Not to me, do you have anything to back this up? Why would Lyft care about the news cycle? > They commit(whatever that means) to using only electric cars in 10 years. The meaning is pretty clear. > This is a big fat nothingburger. This kind of namecalling and negative attitude really doesn't belong on HN. You have copy+pasted this comment all over the thread, why? I've flagged and downvoted

Zhenya 6y ago
I posted it twice. And I will go line by line: Corporate action in 10 years by a company that encourages the disuse of public transport. News cycle: Uber/Lyft volume is very low. Get in the news and get folks to start using Lyft as restrictions end. "we are good, we are saving the climate" What's the meaning? Is it binding? Is it legal? Or is it just words that they can walk back at any moment for any reason or just forget the made this claim. It's not name calling; I'm pointing out this is fluff and pretty much does not mean anything. Thanks for your input and vote.
- cryptoz 6y ago
  > Corporate action in 10 years by a company that encourages the disuse of public transport. I don't understand your point here. Lyft also discourages car ownership. What should any of this matter? Why does it matter what their customers incentives might be when discussing their corporate climate action? Are you stating that lyft is bad for the environment and climate change overall, and would still be bad after this change? I just don't get how these things are related. > News cycle: Uber/Lyft volume is very low. Get in the news and get folks to start using Lyft as restrictions end. "we are good, we are saving the climate" People are just desperate to get out and do things. I don't think that lyft making headlines online or on TV is going to matter much for that and I don't think their marketing department would think so either. This sounds like a conspiracy theory that Lyft does not operate in good faith and is rather trying to trick everyone all the time. It just seems unfounded and weird. > What's the meaning? Is it binding? Is it legal? Or is it just words that they can walk back at any moment for any reason or just forget the made this claim. I'm sure it is binding. If they do not make strong efforts towards meeting these goals, surely the shareholders would sue? I would! > It's not name calling; I'm pointing out this is fluff and pretty much does not mean anything. "big fat nothingburger" is the definition of name calling and rude behavior. It just doesn't belong here. You also didn't address that there is literally 0 excitement here. There are 0 comments that I would rank as any level of "excited". I don't want to accuse you of lying, but, can you source what you mean by "excitement here"? It just doesn't seem real to me.

aeturnum 6y ago

It's a commitment. It is not action, but that's not a flaw. They serve two different purposes. Commitments are how companies orient themselves to the future while leaving open the possibility that things might change. They give people a frame to be critical of or complementary towards future actions. I see many comments on HN saying we should not critique company Y for thing A because company Y is in the business of doing B, not A. This is Lyft saying they are in the business of doing electric cars. It's ambiguous and uncertain what that means now, but is a theme to compare future actions against. To look back to a previous instance: when Google set "don't be evil" as their slogan, they suggested that they were interested in ethical critiques. I think experience has shown them to both consistently fall short of that slogan and also be more responsive to ethical critiques than, say, Palantir or Facebook. I would expect this Lyft statement to play out similarly. I'm not excited by this statement, but it's not nothing.