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Scale Ruins Everything

(coldwaters.substack.com)
175 points drc500free | 2 comments | 14 Oct 24 17:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.002s | source
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daxfohl ◴[14 Oct 24 20:15 UTC] No.41841448[source]▶
Given that we've been throwing cash at every conceivable idea for the last ten plus years, yet when speaking of unicorns we still have to refer back to airbnb and uber, seems like we're well past "peak unicorn" and well into the "horse with a mild concussion" era.
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Terr_ ◴[14 Oct 24 20:21 UTC] No.41841513[source]▶
It's also disconcerting how much their success seems to hinge on using technology as a lever to break laws or social expectations, as opposed to technology as something that itself empowers humans to be more productive.
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robertlagrant ◴[14 Oct 24 20:38 UTC] No.41841716[source]▶
Er no, they totally transformed things through technology as well. Their product was fantastic. Hail a cab in the 2000s in the UK and tell me Uber had no improvement for its customers.
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CPLX ◴[14 Oct 24 21:10 UTC] No.41842057{3}[source]▶
Right but how much of this improvement came from the invention and popularity of smartphones and how much of the innovation came from a company called Uber.
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1. ahmeneeroe-v2 ◴[14 Oct 24 21:26 UTC] No.41842208{4}[source]▶
Struggling to see the relevance of this question. How much of Uber's "innovation" was actually Ford/GM/Toyota innovation in car manufacturing?
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2. labster ◴[14 Oct 24 22:05 UTC] No.41842545[source]▶
But those car companies are just riding on the coattails of Exxon, Chevron and the like with their improvements in oil discovery and hydraulic fracking.