4 ms·

The equivalent of the Luddites here aren't all the gig workers, they're the people who are "rising up" against gig work. Many of them are now themselves gig wor

by franga2000 3y ago

The equivalent of the Luddites here aren't all the gig workers, they're the people who are "rising up" against gig work. Many of them are now themselves gig workers because they had nowhere else to go (like former taxi drivers driving for Uber now), but their skills and training are no longer valued and they get the same inhumane wage as those who have none. Meanwhile the rest of us get lower quality for a lower price and no ability to pay more if we want.

eru 3y ago
You can hire a driver without using Uber. You can pay more for better service. (And you can even give Uber more money to get better service, within some limits.)
- al_borland 3y ago
  You can pay Uber for a nicer class of car, service seems like it would always be a roll of the dice, as that is up to the personality of the driver. Even when going with the cheapest option on Uber, getting a nicer car is luck of the draw. On my last weekend trip where I took a few Ubers, I always picked the cheapest option, and we had 3 new Teslas, Model S, X, and Y, and a new Benz. No beat up old Toyotas. I’ve had people pick me up in luxury SUVs who mention they are Uber Black, but took my fare because I was close, it wasn’t any better than an UberX with a friendly driver. I’d be curious to know how many people actually pay for things like Uber Black. How long is someone going to be in the car where it’s really worth paying 2-4x the price? It seems like it’s more of a status or ego thing.
- franga2000 3y ago
  Outside of the super high end, the middle ground is simply not available any more where I live. Even the old taxi companies, under pressure from our regional Uber-copycat, have switched to an app-only, quantity-over-quality, throughput-focused model. I can't call and book a ride at a specific time in advance (this used to be possible, of course with a waiting fee), the drivers will no longer let us make detours or stops on the way because their next ride is already booked by the time they pick you up, they drive like maniacs to hit their time targets, all while constantly fiddling with the three phones stuck to their dashboard viewing and accepting rides from the three platforms they "work for". All of this for a 20% decrease in fees (which started rising back up the moment a near-monopoly was established) and having them "all in one app", even though there are now 3 "all in one" platforms, each with their own set of quirks that you need to remember just like we had to remember for the different taxi companies before.

eru 3y ago

You can hire a driver without using Uber. You can pay more for better service. (And you can even give Uber more money to get better service, within some limits.)

al_borland 3y ago
You can pay Uber for a nicer class of car, service seems like it would always be a roll of the dice, as that is up to the personality of the driver. Even when going with the cheapest option on Uber, getting a nicer car is luck of the draw. On my last weekend trip where I took a few Ubers, I always picked the cheapest option, and we had 3 new Teslas, Model S, X, and Y, and a new Benz. No beat up old Toyotas. I’ve had people pick me up in luxury SUVs who mention they are Uber Black, but took my fare because I was close, it wasn’t any better than an UberX with a friendly driver. I’d be curious to know how many people actually pay for things like Uber Black. How long is someone going to be in the car where it’s really worth paying 2-4x the price? It seems like it’s more of a status or ego thing.
franga2000 3y ago
Outside of the super high end, the middle ground is simply not available any more where I live. Even the old taxi companies, under pressure from our regional Uber-copycat, have switched to an app-only, quantity-over-quality, throughput-focused model. I can't call and book a ride at a specific time in advance (this used to be possible, of course with a waiting fee), the drivers will no longer let us make detours or stops on the way because their next ride is already booked by the time they pick you up, they drive like maniacs to hit their time targets, all while constantly fiddling with the three phones stuck to their dashboard viewing and accepting rides from the three platforms they "work for". All of this for a 20% decrease in fees (which started rising back up the moment a near-monopoly was established) and having them "all in one app", even though there are now 3 "all in one" platforms, each with their own set of quirks that you need to remember just like we had to remember for the different taxi companies before.