2 ms·

> The signs are done now, and I doubt they’ll ever need to be updated: Vegas is a sleepy town, and the dollar is a stable currency This is a sarcastic remark,

by djur 12y ago

> The signs are done now, and I doubt they’ll ever need to be updated: Vegas is a sleepy town, and the dollar is a stable currency This is a sarcastic remark, but: the US dollar is, in fact, a stable currency, and inflation is currently very low. Cab fares are regulated. If getting from point A to point B takes $20 in 2014, it will not be difficult to determine how much the fare should be in 2020, and to send some people around with new signs or price stickers. I'm surprised at how many of these points seem to treat the low-tech methods used by the Nevada state government as patently absurd. I guess it comes from a mindset that technology is the obvious solution to society's problems, which is something I do not find to be obvious. It took me a while to catch on to the sarcasm as a result of that mismatch.

TheDong 12y ago
I can agree that the Gov's solutions are not absurd - at least not half as absurd as this post makes them out to be - but the overall point that the Uber rating system is superior to advisory signs stands strong. I found the sarcastic writing style a pleasure; it was enjoyable humorous and obvious in intent to me.
- djur 12y ago
  Uber has the benefit of employing the drivers, handling transactions, and controlling pricing. This allows them to refund unfair fares and to punish drivers for poor ratings. The technology is secondary. As is so often the case, much of the expense and inefficiency of the government regulatory apparatus here stems from an aversion to intervene directly in markets.
cheald 12y ago
I think the article is less poking fun at the non-technological nature of the government solutions, but at their ineffectiveness, when a proven solution with widely deployed infrastructure to support it already exists in the marketplace. If Nevada could put a magic rock for $0.03/unit in cabs that made cabbies stop longhauling, with no extra technology in play, nobody would complain that it wasn't technological enough.

by djur 12y ago

TheDong 12y ago

I can agree that the Gov's solutions are not absurd - at least not half as absurd as this post makes them out to be - but the overall point that the Uber rating system is superior to advisory signs stands strong. I found the sarcastic writing style a pleasure; it was enjoyable humorous and obvious in intent to me.

djur 12y ago
Uber has the benefit of employing the drivers, handling transactions, and controlling pricing. This allows them to refund unfair fares and to punish drivers for poor ratings. The technology is secondary. As is so often the case, much of the expense and inefficiency of the government regulatory apparatus here stems from an aversion to intervene directly in markets.

cheald 12y ago

I think the article is less poking fun at the non-technological nature of the government solutions, but at their ineffectiveness, when a proven solution with widely deployed infrastructure to support it already exists in the marketplace. If Nevada could put a magic rock for $0.03/unit in cabs that made cabbies stop longhauling, with no extra technology in play, nobody would complain that it wasn't technological enough.