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Comment by vkou | Hacker News Reader

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vkou

Because the customers are the ones who are paying for that inefficiency, not the company.

You can bet that those companies' infrastructure is optimized to hell and back.

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> You can bet that those companies' infrastructure is optimized to hell and back.

You'd be surprised. (Source: I work at a unicorn.)

You know, I'm not currently an Uber customer because their app is too big and I don't have enough spare space on my phone.

There were a few times already that I thought about using them, but couldn't install it right at the time.

OK, so that's one. How many people even look? I have no idea what size the applications on my phone are.

Do you have a lot of space on your phone, or just not use a lot of apps or media? People might not have the same situation as you.

I have a 64 GB phone with a fair amount of apps and media. I don't know if it's more or less than average.

64GB is huge. Many common phones only have 8gb. Inexpensive phones these days have 4GB. Super cheap phones for developing nations may try to sneak in with less. When your phone is full, you generally go to the installed app list, sort by size and kill the biggest thing you can't live without. Eventually you get to the point where you have to delete app A to run app B, and then delete B to run A. If your app is smaller, it'll stay installed longer.

I don't know much about developing markets, but I feel like most phones have for years come in 16, 32, 64, and 128 GB sizes. In any event, I'm not sure someone in a developing country with the absolute cheapest smart phone available is necessarily the kind of user Uber has in mind. I'd be skeptical of the idea that reducing app size is the most revenue-driving thing they could do to their app.

I never really looked (not into Uber). I just tried installing it, and it failed due to lack of space... And, well, I can take a cab when I need it.

I have to imagine the vast majority either don't care, or have other reasons for not having the app on there (like the company itself, for one).

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