4 ms·

You seem to get defensive. The management deciding to go the illegal route (and yes, "morally flexible" is appropriate) doesn't say anything about you. I just d

by juunpp 4y ago

You seem to get defensive. The management deciding to go the illegal route (and yes, "morally flexible" is appropriate) doesn't say anything about you. I just don't understand how you can defend the older management, which seems to be the point of your original comment.

blindriver 4y ago
Only on HN would you find people bending over backwards to support the taxi monopoly just to try to prove Uber was somehow immoral.
- UncleEntity 4y ago
  Seriously, dude, the “taxi monopoly” everyone gets on about was in very few markets. In places like, IDK, Phoenix all you needed to be a taxi was a certified meter, rates posted on the side of your car, a sticker which they gave you when you fulfilled all these requirements and, here’s the big one which allowed Uber/Lyft to undercut everyone, commercial insurance. If your drivers don’t have to pay for expensive insurance and you can sell your product for under the actual cost it’s no big surprise you can gain a large foothold against the “taxi monopoly”. Whenever I get back to Phoenix and take a Lyft I always talk to the drivers to see how things are working out for them after the “monopoly” was broken and, from what I can gather, they’re getting paid fewer peanuts than I did driving a cab and have to maintain their vehicles at their own expense. Sure, tell me how “the warranty covers all that”, they aren’t killing their resale value by putting in a million miles and the $0.50 fuel surcharge for a 23 mile trip helps out when gas prices are over $4/gal. Only on HN…
  - blindriver 4y ago
    Seriously, dude, you should educate yourself on the taxi industry.
    - UncleEntity 4y ago
      Ok, educate me… I drove cabs for nine years but fully admit I’m no expert so lay down your wisdom.
      - blindriver 4y ago
        You drove in Phoenix for nine years? What's the taxi industry like in SF? or NYC? or London? Yeah I thought so.
        UncleEntity 4y ago
        Though so what? You’re the one who claims to know what they’re talking about yet make zero effort to support your claims. Honestly, I’ve never heard anyone claim taxi drivers were getting rich but can tell you they weren’t universally getting exploited like the pro-rideshare propaganda was telling you. Back before Uber/Lyft I could work less than half the time, have a roof over my head and food in my belly plus got to spend time doing things I enjoyed like shaving yaks. After, not so much, all the “excess income” got siphoned off and went nowhere because VC money was subsidizing the push to bankrupt the competition. Only job in my life where I had my income cut (to keep the insurance contracts which were the only thing making us money) and I’m not exactly a young pup. Walmart (supposedly, no real evidence) does the same thing and everyone complains but some Silicon Valley companies do it and we’re supposed to cheer them on? Yada, yada, predatory pricing, horay!!!
    - KyeRussell 4y ago
      Let me guess. Your education consists of some dramatic articles and podcast episodes about the cabal? We read the same articles dude. Don’t act smarter than you are because you have Twitter.
      - blindriver 4y ago
        You're right. The taxi cab industries was a wealth generator for the drivers. Drivers were spoiled with the industry's magnanimity until Uber destroyed one of the best paying employers in history. It was so sad, and all the taxi customers revolted against Uber when it happened.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  Why didn't they just spend couple billion to buy those medallions out? And then rent them digitally out?
  - blindriver 4y ago
    Because they limit the number of medallions to create artificial scarcity. Meanwhile Uber created hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the US, millions around the world, because there was demand for cheap ridesharing that was more reliable than the taxi cabs.

by juunpp 4y ago

blindriver 4y ago

Only on HN would you find people bending over backwards to support the taxi monopoly just to try to prove Uber was somehow immoral.

UncleEntity 4y ago
Seriously, dude, the “taxi monopoly” everyone gets on about was in very few markets. In places like, IDK, Phoenix all you needed to be a taxi was a certified meter, rates posted on the side of your car, a sticker which they gave you when you fulfilled all these requirements and, here’s the big one which allowed Uber/Lyft to undercut everyone, commercial insurance. If your drivers don’t have to pay for expensive insurance and you can sell your product for under the actual cost it’s no big surprise you can gain a large foothold against the “taxi monopoly”. Whenever I get back to Phoenix and take a Lyft I always talk to the drivers to see how things are working out for them after the “monopoly” was broken and, from what I can gather, they’re getting paid fewer peanuts than I did driving a cab and have to maintain their vehicles at their own expense. Sure, tell me how “the warranty covers all that”, they aren’t killing their resale value by putting in a million miles and the $0.50 fuel surcharge for a 23 mile trip helps out when gas prices are over $4/gal. Only on HN…
- blindriver 4y ago
  Seriously, dude, you should educate yourself on the taxi industry.
  - UncleEntity 4y ago
    Ok, educate me… I drove cabs for nine years but fully admit I’m no expert so lay down your wisdom.
    - blindriver 4y ago
      You drove in Phoenix for nine years? What's the taxi industry like in SF? or NYC? or London? Yeah I thought so.
      - UncleEntity 4y ago
        Though so what? You’re the one who claims to know what they’re talking about yet make zero effort to support your claims. Honestly, I’ve never heard anyone claim taxi drivers were getting rich but can tell you they weren’t universally getting exploited like the pro-rideshare propaganda was telling you. Back before Uber/Lyft I could work less than half the time, have a roof over my head and food in my belly plus got to spend time doing things I enjoyed like shaving yaks. After, not so much, all the “excess income” got siphoned off and went nowhere because VC money was subsidizing the push to bankrupt the competition. Only job in my life where I had my income cut (to keep the insurance contracts which were the only thing making us money) and I’m not exactly a young pup. Walmart (supposedly, no real evidence) does the same thing and everyone complains but some Silicon Valley companies do it and we’re supposed to cheer them on? Yada, yada, predatory pricing, horay!!!
  - KyeRussell 4y ago
    Let me guess. Your education consists of some dramatic articles and podcast episodes about the cabal? We read the same articles dude. Don’t act smarter than you are because you have Twitter.
    - blindriver 4y ago
      You're right. The taxi cab industries was a wealth generator for the drivers. Drivers were spoiled with the industry's magnanimity until Uber destroyed one of the best paying employers in history. It was so sad, and all the taxi customers revolted against Uber when it happened.
Ekaros 4y ago
Why didn't they just spend couple billion to buy those medallions out? And then rent them digitally out?
- blindriver 4y ago
  Because they limit the number of medallions to create artificial scarcity. Meanwhile Uber created hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the US, millions around the world, because there was demand for cheap ridesharing that was more reliable than the taxi cabs.