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The riders are the only ones that won hand over fist. I can get a cab anywhere within minutes. This used to not be the case. Will Uber be profitable? I don’t r

The riders are the only ones that won hand over fist. I can get a cab anywhere within minutes. This used to not be the case. Will Uber be profitable? I don’t really care, they improved society, period.

oarsinsync 5y ago
> I can get a cab anywhere within minutes. This used to not be the case... they improved society, period. They added an extra convenience to your life, and made your life better. This may or may not be true for a lot of passengers. It may or may not be true for a lot of drivers. It’s a stretch to call that an improvement to society, when the only example cited is a minor convenience improvement, that only the upper 50% of the society you live in can afford to use regularly.
- zanellato19 5y ago
  On the long run, they helped put laws in place that eroded even more labor power, they setback public transit, they increased traffic in a lot of places, because why ride with friends when you can take an Uber? They added a small convenience to a bunch of peoples lives, but they certainly didn't make society better.
  - anchpop 5y ago
    > they setback public transit In what way did they set back public transit? My understanding is that every american city except one or two has had abysmal public transit for decades. And the only alternative was walking/biking/driving yourself (often not possible) or taking a taxi (which as stated elsewhere in the thread has a terrible UX). Uber provided an alternative, which I guess technically reduces the demand from voters for better public transport, but so far the strategy of “everything will be terrible all the time until voters get fed up with it to the point that they demand better public transit” hasn’t seemed to work very well to actually improve public transit.
asdff 5y ago
>I can get a cab anywhere within minutes. This isn't the case anymore. There is a shortage of drivers and no one wants to work for the prices offered by uber and lyft anymore. I had a friend try and visit me who lived like 5 miles away. 5 million people living in my city so its no slouch in terms of ridership and size of the uber and lyft networks. Three drivers cancelled rides on him before they picked him up, it took him like 45 minutes before a driver finally appeared. You pretty much have to reserve a ride in advance if you have something important, there is no telling how long it will take before drivers pick up your ride or finally show up.
_fat_santa 5y ago
> I don’t really care, they improved society, period. This is one reason it's so hard for me to rag on Uber. On the one hand this thread describes many of the horrible things about Uber but I have to say, my life has improved since Uber came out.

oarsinsync 5y ago

> I can get a cab anywhere within minutes. This used to not be the case... they improved society, period. They added an extra convenience to your life, and made your life better. This may or may not be true for a lot of passengers. It may or may not be true for a lot of drivers. It’s a stretch to call that an improvement to society, when the only example cited is a minor convenience improvement, that only the upper 50% of the society you live in can afford to use regularly.

zanellato19 5y ago
On the long run, they helped put laws in place that eroded even more labor power, they setback public transit, they increased traffic in a lot of places, because why ride with friends when you can take an Uber? They added a small convenience to a bunch of peoples lives, but they certainly didn't make society better.
- anchpop 5y ago
  > they setback public transit In what way did they set back public transit? My understanding is that every american city except one or two has had abysmal public transit for decades. And the only alternative was walking/biking/driving yourself (often not possible) or taking a taxi (which as stated elsewhere in the thread has a terrible UX). Uber provided an alternative, which I guess technically reduces the demand from voters for better public transport, but so far the strategy of “everything will be terrible all the time until voters get fed up with it to the point that they demand better public transit” hasn’t seemed to work very well to actually improve public transit.

asdff 5y ago

>I can get a cab anywhere within minutes. This isn't the case anymore. There is a shortage of drivers and no one wants to work for the prices offered by uber and lyft anymore. I had a friend try and visit me who lived like 5 miles away. 5 million people living in my city so its no slouch in terms of ridership and size of the uber and lyft networks. Three drivers cancelled rides on him before they picked him up, it took him like 45 minutes before a driver finally appeared. You pretty much have to reserve a ride in advance if you have something important, there is no telling how long it will take before drivers pick up your ride or finally show up.

_fat_santa 5y ago

> I don’t really care, they improved society, period. This is one reason it's so hard for me to rag on Uber. On the one hand this thread describes many of the horrible things about Uber but I have to say, my life has improved since Uber came out.