Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
Reminder: Uber's current business model is literally unsustainable
.
Now I'm wondering how GrabCar is doing financially.
I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
A procrastination in of itself
In the UK Uber was recently forced to count the drivers as employees, they're not getting away with anything here.
Still the money thing explains why nobody has done Uber before, it's simply not profitable unless one targets the high no market, which at least in the UK has been being done for years, Addison Lee have been around in London since 1975, but it's high end stuff, the drivers (since 2015) even receive equality training.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Oh, bother.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Yeah, on top of all of the rest of the awful shit, Uber is a shitty business that doesn't actually make money.
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Uber Again
How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons
Notably, the company also announced that it would fix its troubled relationship with drivers, who have complained for years about falling pay and arbitrary treatment.
“We’ve underinvested in the driver experience,” a senior official said. “We are now re-examining everything we do in order to rebuild that love.”
Uber’s innovations reflect the changing ways companies are managing workers amid the rise of the freelance-based “gig economy.” Its drivers are officially independent business owners rather than traditional employees with set schedules. This allows Uber to minimize labor costs, but means it cannot compel drivers to show up at a specific place and time. And this lack of control can wreak havoc on a service whose goal is to seamlessly transport passengers whenever and wherever they want.
Employing hundreds of social scientists and data scientists, Uber has experimented with video game techniques, graphics and noncash rewards of little value that can prod drivers into working longer and harder — and sometimes at hours and locations that are less lucrative for them.
To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over.
And most of this happens without giving off a whiff of coercion.
“We show drivers areas of high demand or incentivize them to drive more,” said Michael Amodeo, an Uber spokesman. “But any driver can stop work literally at the tap of a button — the decision whether or not to drive is 100 percent theirs.”
Uber’s main competitor, Lyft, and popular delivery services like Postmates rely on similar approaches. So do companies and individuals posting assignments on crowdsourcing sites like Amazon Mechanical Turk, where hundreds of thousands of workers earn piece-rate wages by completing discrete tasks.
Some local managers who were men went so far as to adopt a female persona for texting drivers, having found that the uptake was higher when they did.
“‘Laura’ would tell drivers: ‘Hey, the concert’s about to let out. You should head over there,’” said John P. Parker, a manager in Uber’s Dallas office in 2014 and 2015, referring to one of the personas. “We have an overwhelmingly male driver population.”
Uber acknowledged that it had experimented with female personas to increase engagement with drivers.
The friction over meeting demand was compounded by complaints about arrangements like aggressive car leases that required many drivers to work upward of 50 or 60 hours each week to eke out a profit. Uber officials began to worry that a driver backlash was putting them at a strategic disadvantage in their competition with Lyft, which had cultivated a reputation for being more driver-friendly.
During roughly the same period, Uber was increasingly concerned that many new drivers were leaving the platform before completing the 25 rides that would earn them a signing bonus. To stem that tide, Uber officials in some cities began experimenting with simple encouragement: You’re almost halfway there, congratulations!
While the experiment seemed warm and innocuous, it had in fact been exquisitely calibrated. The company’s data scientists had previously discovered that once drivers reached the 25-ride threshold, their rate of attrition fell sharply.
And psychologists and video game designers have long known that encouragement toward a concrete goal can motivate people to complete a task.
“It’s getting you to internalize the company’s goals,” said Chelsea Howe, a prominent video game designer who has spoken out against coercive psychological techniques deployed in games. “Internalized motivation is the most powerful kind.”
Oh, bother.
The "no longer tolerate brilliant jerks" line is hilarious, given that Kalanick is a brilliant jerk (though the brilliant part is debatable).
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
Seems like the standard "pull the ladder up after you" mentality prevalent in the corporate world.
When was the last time you saw a big tech company founded by a college dropout hire one?
I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
Hearing all this stuff about Uber is making me more and more glad I got off that train early.
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
How common are automatic gates at pedestrian level crossings? Although what confuses me the most is looking the other way after you're most of the way across.
EDIT: Why dashcams are doubly important for drivers with ride-sharing services.
edited 8th Apr '17 12:17:40 PM by Krieger22
I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
I dunno about Australia, but here in the US, any railroad crossing in an urban/suburban area is gonna have gates. Not only do we have gates, but engineers are required by law to sound a particular horn sequence upon approaching a crossing (except when they aren't). The FRA wants to leave no doubt that a train is indeed approaching. (Not that it stops some people from trying to cross in front of the train anyway.)
Cape Malleum Majorem
Not all railroad crossings in the US have gates. They're required to have flashing lights and bells (except on very low-traffic branch lines), but gates don't seem to be universal.
I recall a video that showed a super-stretched limo stuck at a railroad crossing (it bottomed out on the tracks, so that the driving wheels were off the ground) and getting hit by a train. The driver bailed out, and caught up with the train about a quarter-mile down the tracks. He said to the engineer, "Didn't you see me?"
The engineer replied, "Sure I did, but a ten thousand ton freight train doesn't exactly stop on a dime."
edited 23rd Apr '17 11:54:28 AM by pwiegle
This Space Intentionally Left Blank.
A procrastination in of itself
There are still manually operated gates in the UK I belive, they're still on the driving theory test at least.
edited 23rd Apr '17 9:51:20 AM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Crossings that don't have gates tend to be either located in non-populated areas or private crossings. Besides that, if a city or suburbs has a crossing, it'll most likely have gates.
Our railways do not have crossings, at least what I have seen. However, most stations have means for passers-by to cross without actually getting into the station. However, I've seen people open up wire fences and cross the rail tracks anyway.
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
Uber could not be regarded as a mere intermediary between drivers and passengers because it controlled economically important aspects of the urban transport service, Szpunar said in the opinion.
"The service amounts to the organization and management of a comprehensive system for on-demand urban transport," the ECJ statement said.
I have see it coming some time ago and glad that our local government is starting to regulate it.
On another note, in your opinion, should a rail station opens with only one exit working and the other closed because construction is not finished? I had to take a detour which amounts to additional 5 minutes of walking at the Bandar Utama MRT station precisely because of that.
Oh, bother.
That sounds like some annoying bullshit right there. Especially since you're likely to be in a hurry and there will be crowds.
Indeed. Thankfully it was a Sunday and the station is almost empty because most people went to the nearby shopping center and broadcast center by car or bus. I feel pity for the workers who frequently use the station, though.
Jupiterian Local
An extra five minutes of walking is probably better than the station not being open at all.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
There should at least be a pretty huge disclaimer noting that one of the exits was still incomplete.
I still haven't used that train line in any capacity, since it still isn't directly connected to the rest of the Kuala Lumpur rapid transit system.
I wanna ask you guys a question.
What is it about trains that brings out the nationalism in people in full force?
I say this because of the various high-speed diesel-electric locomotives that are set to run on various American passenger service in the near future, such as Maryland's MARC commuter rail, the new Brightline service opening up in Florida, and the Siemens Chargers set to replace the current locomotives on certain Amtrak routes. An all-too common complaint with these locomotives is their design, and how it looks "too European". In other words, it doesn't look "American" enough for their tastes. As if the manufacturers are supposed to care about their national identity.
It's not even just Americans; look up any video of Amtrak's Acela Express on youtube and read through the comments - there's bound to be at least one snobby European scoffing at it, boasting about how their high-speed rail is sooooo much better.
What the fuck is the deal?
edited 15th May '17 5:56:54 AM by PhysicalStamina
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
There is no rail service in the US that matches the speed of European high-speed rail (up to 320 km/h for the French TGV, for instance) and the US also lacks dedicated tracks for it, so the average speed is significantly lower than the top speed. That said, I feel no need to sneer at what US manufacturers are doing.
Oh, bother.
I have a soft spot for Taiwan High Speed Rail myself. THSR is just so damn convenient and comfy. It's not that cheap though.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Already knew that, thanks
That still doesn't answer my question.
edited 15th May '17 6:46:33 AM by PhysicalStamina
It's one thing to make a spectacle. It's another to make a difference.
Jupiterian Local
The point of your question isn't clear. Why are people nationalistic about trains? For the same reason they're nationalistic about anything (the reasons for which are outside the scope of this thread). What makes a train look "American" vs "European"? That's what Khudzlin was getting at. Form follows function, and American heavy freight trains are a very different function than European high-speed passenger trains, which is why they look so different.
That said, I need to look into this "Brightline" thing. I hadn't heard of it before, but the video you linked (the one in Tequesta) is from a small town very close to where I grew up. Given that I just made the drive from Orlando down there and back this weekend, I would certainly be interested in a train that was significantly cheaper/faster than driving the route.
edited 15th May '17 9:29:41 AM by NativeJovian
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
They have little to actually add, apart from innovations in booking systems (and, even that is debatable). And, with our hard-won, tighter regulatory standards to protect both drivers and customers, it means the only thing Uber can add over here is... degrading our standards of service.
Sod. That. Thanks. We've done the whole Wild West thing with transport before. Ask Victorians how much they loved the introduction of regulated cabs (answer: quite a lot).
I don't want a Ryanair effect, but with taxis. However, bus companies finally looking more closely at how taxis do things? That's a bit more positive.
edited 29th Mar '17 3:18:43 AM by Euodiachloris