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I think Cory is going a little too harsh on Uber/Amazon. People use them because they provide convenience and ease-of-use, and are willing to pay for a better c

I think Cory is going a little too harsh on Uber/Amazon. People use them because they provide convenience and ease-of-use, and are willing to pay for a better customer experience. If anything, 'taxi medallions' are literally the original form of feudalism and collecting rent from doing nothing.

klyrs 3y ago
In the places I've lived, the real problem with taxi medallions is that municipalities failed to keep the medallion price in line with its value, which created a secondary rental market. Uber fares tend to cost more than taxis after their initial loss-leader to break into the market, and Uber drivers make less than cab drivers after costs.
pavel_lishin 3y ago
Amazon's "customer experience" is one of the reasons I no longer purchase from them.
- hackeraccount 3y ago
  It's one of the reasons I continue to purchase from them. I don't return a lot but I've never had a problem with it - and at least once they surprised me on that.
moffkalast 3y ago
I think you misunderstand his point slightly. Amazon, Aliexpress, etc. aren't feudal from the buyers' perspective, they are from the sellers' side. The taxi permits also fit to some extent, though the one time payment isn't exactly rent seeking but more for creating artificial scarcity. They're BabyTaxiShibaCoins from the 60s with about as much price fluctuation as the average crypto shitcoin according to wikipedia.
- hackeraccount 3y ago
  This. Amazon is like Walmart. Walmart is great if your shopping but it's the pits if you're a supplier.
RajT88 3y ago
> People use them because they provide convenience and ease-of-use, and are willing to pay for a better customer experience. This is a worthwhile talking point. There was nothing holding back taxi companies from building an uber-like experience, just there was no incentive to do so. Uber took advantage of that opportunity to spin up an exploitative business that did an end-run around existing regulation of that industry. All that said - many cab companies now have uber-like apps. I don't feel bad for the cab companies particularly; there's too many damn cars in big cities. That's a city planning problem. I do feel sorry for all the drivers out there, as it's a tough gig no matter who you're working for.
mcpackieh 3y ago
s/literally the original/a/
tootie 3y ago
His observations are mostly on the mark, but I'm kinda dubious this is actually any better or worse than ever before. I'm not sure if there's an econometric measure of rents per GDP or whatever, but I kinda doubt it's sky high by a historical standard. I don't have a full essay on the subject, but I have a gut feeling that the informalization of society has relieved a ton of useless costs on people. Spending money on cultural imperatives like going to church, wearing a tie to the office, wearing diamonds to look prosperous are no longer mandatory in much of the first world.

klyrs 3y ago

In the places I've lived, the real problem with taxi medallions is that municipalities failed to keep the medallion price in line with its value, which created a secondary rental market. Uber fares tend to cost more than taxis after their initial loss-leader to break into the market, and Uber drivers make less than cab drivers after costs.

pavel_lishin 3y ago

Amazon's "customer experience" is one of the reasons I no longer purchase from them.

hackeraccount 3y ago
It's one of the reasons I continue to purchase from them. I don't return a lot but I've never had a problem with it - and at least once they surprised me on that.

moffkalast 3y ago

I think you misunderstand his point slightly. Amazon, Aliexpress, etc. aren't feudal from the buyers' perspective, they are from the sellers' side. The taxi permits also fit to some extent, though the one time payment isn't exactly rent seeking but more for creating artificial scarcity. They're BabyTaxiShibaCoins from the 60s with about as much price fluctuation as the average crypto shitcoin according to wikipedia.

hackeraccount 3y ago
This. Amazon is like Walmart. Walmart is great if your shopping but it's the pits if you're a supplier.

RajT88 3y ago

> People use them because they provide convenience and ease-of-use, and are willing to pay for a better customer experience. This is a worthwhile talking point. There was nothing holding back taxi companies from building an uber-like experience, just there was no incentive to do so. Uber took advantage of that opportunity to spin up an exploitative business that did an end-run around existing regulation of that industry. All that said - many cab companies now have uber-like apps. I don't feel bad for the cab companies particularly; there's too many damn cars in big cities. That's a city planning problem. I do feel sorry for all the drivers out there, as it's a tough gig no matter who you're working for.

mcpackieh 3y ago

s/literally the original/a/

tootie 3y ago

His observations are mostly on the mark, but I'm kinda dubious this is actually any better or worse than ever before. I'm not sure if there's an econometric measure of rents per GDP or whatever, but I kinda doubt it's sky high by a historical standard. I don't have a full essay on the subject, but I have a gut feeling that the informalization of society has relieved a ton of useless costs on people. Spending money on cultural imperatives like going to church, wearing a tie to the office, wearing diamonds to look prosperous are no longer mandatory in much of the first world.