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Comment by gauravjain13 | Hacker News Reader

If we suspend the Uber/taxi comparison, and assume Uber is a new taxi-like service but better, therefore deserves a premium? I know I’d pay for that premium. Not everyone will, but I can’t be alone?

So that means the addressable market shrinks. Think premium black-car-only service; Uber’s roots). Why can’t such a service find demand/price equilibrium? I think it can, but not in a manner that can justify Uber’s “unicorn” valuation. And I think that’s at the core of Uber’s conundrum/identity crisis: it provides value, but with tech-company cost structures. However, it doesn’t deserve tech-company valuations because it’s just not as scalable — it’s tied to operating in the physical world, with physical constraints.

If the strategy is to burn cash, continue entrenchment, and eventually leapfrog to self-driving Ubers (mitigating the scaling/cost problem to an extent), then that’s a war of attrition. Fingers crossed.

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What's premium about Uber ? My personal experience is that taxis are usually much more comfortable cars, they're allowed to drive in dedicated bus lanes, and they don't try to scam you by taking a longer route to rack an overcharge. The advantage and innovation of Uber is the app, but now taxi companies have one too. So what is it ?

My personal experience is taxis are less comfortable and I've only not been scammed by a taxi once (in the us), taxis are fantastic abroad, no idea why.

A large part of Uber is also the rating model. I don't know if taxis have that, but at least for LGBTQ passengers it makes a huge difference. You can't harass your passenger and keep a good rating.

One advantage I get from Uber is a single interface no matter where I am. I travel a lot. I won’t install an app for every city. Uber has taken away the pain of dealing with taxi companies in strange cities.

Unfortunately, it traded one kind of monopoly for another.

Ideally, Uber would have been an app and a network that taxi companies plug into.

Like Hailo?

This product existed, and was profitable until Uber drove them out of business with rides subsidised by VC money.

Taxis absolutely scam you and its harder to prove than an Uber with a digital record of the route taken.

Not so sure about the prevalence of longer route tactic. I’m sure it happens, but with the route plainly visible on the map, it’s hard to cheat here unless the driver is being a bully, which is a different class of problem.

As others have also mentioned below:

- Uber is global, and has a standard interface. I don’t have to fiddle with credit cards and the payment dance. It’s the de-facto global “taxi”. Kind of like the warm homey fuzz one feels at a Starbucks in a foreign land after enduring burnt coffee served in a styrofoam cup on a long flight. (Granted, a bourgeois American-centric view, but I hope it’s illustrative.)

- If you pay a premium (Uber Comfort and higher), the cars are better, the drivers are better (higher rated too), and one can communicate preferences such as temperature and conversation (no, thanks).

- Other long-tail uses: 7 passenger SUVs for large groups, lots of luggage, etc.

- I’ve tried using the taxi apps (Flywheel, etc.), and they’re atrocious/geographically limited. In some places the Uber app can now call taxis. Even then, I’ve never voluntarily wanted to call a taxi for the last decade or so. I especially like the Black Mirror vibe of drivers and passengers having a “rating”. ;)

Better cars and bus lanes aside, I've never seen an Uber driver do anything besides follow whatever route Google Maps, Waze, or Apple Maps suggested. Most of the drivers don't even really know the streets of the city they are driving in.

My complaint would be the exact opposite of yours: taxi drivers often have a few tricks up their sleeve while Uber drivers will follow Google Maps straight into a traffic jam.

What's premium is that you're faced with a better human being. You can easily tell when your driver is a random dude or a former taxi driver. Also, taxi drivers try to claim their credit card machine is broken. They'll tell you one fee then ask you for another at the end. They'll snatch the money out of your hand as you argue over the cost. It brings out some of the worst behavior in human beings.

Uber is a hassle-free experience and saves you from dealing with the one miserable human being you'll encounter that day. Stress has a price.

Drivers are rated and you can cancel if you're handed a bad one.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how would they rack an overcharge? From my experience I've never paid more than the fare calculated before the ride is even accepted by a driver. I haven't heard of any cases of overcharge, or seen any traces of dynamic pricing after the ride has completed, save from tips. Maybe I'm just lucky?

i have no idea what that guy is talking about. the price of an uber ride never changes after youve ordered it

I've had an overage charge once. The driver hadn't selected in the app that he'd dropped me off, and drove for about an hours afterwards. I messaged Uber about it when I saw the overage charge, and it was refunded about 30 minutes later.

It depends on where you are. Germany shut their attempts at ignoring all laws down quite quickly, their Uber Black service is just like any other cab, just with an app instead of a phone call.

They managed to drag our cab companies into the 21st century without even being active almost anywhere, so thanks for that ;)

But in South Africa? Taxis are extremely expensive cars that often look as if they’d fall apart any moment. Uber was/is cheaper, but I’d have taken them even otherwise. Most certainly a premium service.

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