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All of which used to be features of cab companies, and regressed once the cab companies had the run of the place. Re: your other reply: yeah, eventually someon

All of which used to be features of cab companies, and regressed once the cab companies had the run of the place. Re: your other reply: yeah, eventually someone will come along and knock hypothetical-monopolist Uber off their perch, just like Uber is kicking cab companies' asses right now. But in the mean time we're looking at decades of the Dark Ages where the monopolist pillage the market for all it's worth. This is the crux of why this abuse by Uber shouldn't be given a pass. In order for the transport market to function there must exist competition, and any anticompetitive behavior - whether it's coming from Uber or cab companies or elsewhere - needs to be shut down, hard.

baddox 12y ago
> But in the mean time we're looking at decades of the Dark Ages where the monopolist pillage the market for all it's worth. Why decades? Uber started in 2009, and UberX launched in 2012, and that was them (and their competitors) starting "from scratch" in the sense that consumers and drivers weren't familiar with the concept. It wouldn't take long at all for competitors to pop up. Remember that the profit incentive for new firms to enter the market is strongly correlated to the "badness" (as judged by the potential customers) of the current firms.