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Scale Ruins Everything

(coldwaters.substack.com)
175 points drc500free | 2 comments | 14 Oct 24 17:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.466s | 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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CalRobert ◴[14 Oct 24 20:43 UTC] No.41841766[source]▶
Getting a taxi in my college town in 2005 was agony. Make a phone call from a loud bar and shout at some guy who can barely tell what you're saying that you want a taxi and then maybe if you're lucky they show up in an hour and cost 3 times as much as you expected (and that's on a good night!) vs. "press a button, get a ride" (and have a feedback mechanism for horrible drivers or gross cars, etc.).

Uber has issues but honestly it's night and day compared to what taxis were like. And they decrease DUI's.

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Tor3 ◴[15 Oct 24 12:29 UTC] No.41847873[source]▶
For what it's worth, around here you call an ordinary taxi exactly the same way: Press a button, get a ride. Been like that for a long time.
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malfist ◴[15 Oct 24 13:51 UTC] No.41848602[source]▶
I'd be willing to bet that "long time" doesn't include pre Uber days
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Tor3 ◴[15 Oct 24 14:48 UTC] No.41849202[source]▶
Well.. maybe.. but when that app appeared there weren't yet any Uber drivers in my country. They were considered illegal by the authorities.
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1. robertlagrant ◴[15 Oct 24 16:06 UTC] No.41850014[source]▶
Uber did this. Whatever else you think of them, they massively uplifted an entire industry's customer experience, and pretty much globally. That's an insane achievement.
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2. Tor3 ◴[17 Oct 24 07:23 UTC] No.41867230[source]▶
In this particular case I'm pretty sure the taxi app was completely independent. Nobody actually expected Uber around here (and in fact I've yet to see any), and everyone and their mother added app support for their services. They already had a history of adding new ways of getting a taxi, as and when technology became available. And, and taxis in general are connected to a taxi service central it's easier to come up with such a thing.