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I think of it as being monopolizing by virtue of being a startup with network effect and economies of scale. It's a winner take all market, like Google and Face
by goldfeld 11y ago
I think of it as being monopolizing by virtue of being a startup with network effect and economies of scale. It's a winner take all market, like Google and Facebook do monopolize most of the world's communication and browsing. Maybe it's not the best use of the word monopoly. Colonizing would be far better, but that reeks of american imperialism, oops.
- vasilipupkin 11y agosorry, now you are just not making sense. I think to have these debates, we need to agree to think clearly about the problem. Colonizing? They are providing a service. Nobody is forcing anybody to use the service. There are three issues here a) many ( not all ) of the regulations that make cabs scarce and expensive are unnecessary b) it is not fair to people who paid for the licenses to allow a competitor to operate without licenses c) Uber is good for consumers. Somehow, a reasonable compromise must be found
- goldfeld 11y agoNobody is forcing anybody in the strict sense, yes. If you ignore the network effect, even more so. How can I connect with friends without Facebook when everyone else is on there (there or on instagram and whatsapp, also FB property). How can I not use Uber in the future if they root out and kill off taxis, and even public transportation is left wanting when everyone is just happy to use Uber? And just because everyone's happy to use it (it's cheaper even) doesn't mean it's good in the long run, which is my point.
- vasilipupkin 11y agook, but we don't really know for sure what is good in the long run. That would require perfect foresight about the long run. If it is cheaper and more convenient and people like it, then great ! in order to mitigate your concerns, society needs to remove barriers to competition not add more barriers