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Comment by cute_boi | Hacker News Reader

Uber has become too greedy these days. Lyft came and it was good, then it turned same like Uber.

I don't understand why every app become Enshittification once they become popular.

They can’t make money at the original price point, that’s the problem. The whole goal is 1) disrupt the market, 2) become the market, 3) raise prices to become profitable, thus becoming the incumbent provider and bringing us back to the same place we were in before.

Same but different place. The new place has the disrupter at the top of the pile, and that's the entire point.

Because their Saudi benefactors stopped being ok with subsidizing every ride and meal. Now we pay what it costs.

In Eastern Europe, Bolt is absolutely fantastic and super cheap. They have not gone public yet, and I assume it will end up the exact same way.

Anecdata, but I've been in Romania for a couple of weeks recently and Uber was cheaper than Bolt for all rides except one. I think I only used Bolt while I had 40% off voucher active, and sometimes even with that it wasn't much cheaper than Uber.

But I believe in the past Bolt used to be cheaper than Uber indeed.

In India, Namma Yatri is zero commission and does lots of great initiatives. Uber drivers request me to install it and enjoy the win-win. Too bad the VC funded competitors are losing money to keep us on the enshittification treadmill.

Behold the Github containing their source code: https://github.com/nammayatri/nammayatri

Shareholders.

Also weak regulators.

But regulators have it tough; the Uber business model isn’t viable so if it was properly regulated there’d be no Uber - and since regulators represent their constituency that’ll never happen because the public quite like their affordable rides. Affordable transportation makes cities work, so public transport is taxpayer subsidised in most of the world. Another reason the price has to stay low.

Taking any profit-making endeavor to the limit is to get infinite money input for zero output. Enshittification is every companies business model eventually.

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