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With both the taxi and hotel industries being disrupted (technical meaning), I wonder if there's a pattern here... Is it a direct consequential of the web, enab

by hyp0 12y ago

With both the taxi and hotel industries being disrupted (technical meaning), I wonder if there's a pattern here... Is it a direct consequential of the web, enabling new ways to connect customers and providers? Or, deeper societal forces at work, making this a general time of change for other, non-technological reasons? Or just coincidence...?

codyb 12y ago
The web started as a distributed system. It is turning these industries into distributed systems (A car from a person with time and a car at a time when a consumer needs a car as opposed to strict 8 hour shifts. A bed from a person with a bed when a consumer needs a bed as opposed to a centralized location with many beds). It will be interesting if we see these newly distributed systems consolidate in the future. And I wouldn't be surprised to see realtors with house hotels rented through air BnB. And I've noticed there are already plenty of people with cars looking for uber drivers. I think it is a direct consequence. When people can so easily access and post information regarding availability of luxuries and commodities it relieves the need for centralization. The question should be, what's the cost? Do I go to the hotel which will be able to put me in another room when there are problems? Or go for the quaint feeling of a person's home. Homes are generally in residential areas, but if I'm touring I might want the luxury of staying in downtown. Hopefully these two industries can live side by side to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of consumers. (This doesn't even include the possible costs in terms of flimsy insurance guidelines for Uber drivers in some municipalities or locales, or property value depreciation for neighborhoods that become AirBnB traps with many units being turned essentially into mini hotels.) The valuations are insane, so it looks like these companies are here to stay. It will be interesting to watch.
- hyp0 12y ago
  Sounds right, esp for hotels. Though taxis are already distributed and on-demand. Just regulated centrally. Deregulation is pretty common: banking, utilities (electricity, gas, telecommunications), railways, jails. States get a phenomenal one-off budgetary windfall from sale of infrastructure assets, and buyers get a government mandated toll-bridge - everybody wins! Though more governmental than "societal" as I previously described it. Governments aren't driving hotel/taxi deregulation, but the hard-won legal and admin expertise to do it is sitting around with nothing to do...

by hyp0 12y ago

codyb 12y ago

The web started as a distributed system. It is turning these industries into distributed systems (A car from a person with time and a car at a time when a consumer needs a car as opposed to strict 8 hour shifts. A bed from a person with a bed when a consumer needs a bed as opposed to a centralized location with many beds). It will be interesting if we see these newly distributed systems consolidate in the future. And I wouldn't be surprised to see realtors with house hotels rented through air BnB. And I've noticed there are already plenty of people with cars looking for uber drivers. I think it is a direct consequence. When people can so easily access and post information regarding availability of luxuries and commodities it relieves the need for centralization. The question should be, what's the cost? Do I go to the hotel which will be able to put me in another room when there are problems? Or go for the quaint feeling of a person's home. Homes are generally in residential areas, but if I'm touring I might want the luxury of staying in downtown. Hopefully these two industries can live side by side to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of consumers. (This doesn't even include the possible costs in terms of flimsy insurance guidelines for Uber drivers in some municipalities or locales, or property value depreciation for neighborhoods that become AirBnB traps with many units being turned essentially into mini hotels.) The valuations are insane, so it looks like these companies are here to stay. It will be interesting to watch.

hyp0 12y ago
Sounds right, esp for hotels. Though taxis are already distributed and on-demand. Just regulated centrally. Deregulation is pretty common: banking, utilities (electricity, gas, telecommunications), railways, jails. States get a phenomenal one-off budgetary windfall from sale of infrastructure assets, and buyers get a government mandated toll-bridge - everybody wins! Though more governmental than "societal" as I previously described it. Governments aren't driving hotel/taxi deregulation, but the hard-won legal and admin expertise to do it is sitting around with nothing to do...