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Comment by pessimizer | Hacker News Reader

Uber didn't invent anything, they drove taxis out of business then jacked up the prices, squeezed the workers, and now everybody is riding around in regular people's crappy cars for more than a cab cost. And now I need a phone and to maintain my relationship with these two crappy companies rather than to wave at the street (which is what I used to do to get a ride.)

That was literally what everybody said would happen.

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I think Uber invented (or at least made widely available) taxi-by-app. Having scores of cab companies, accessed by telephone call, was supremely user-hostile.

If the cab companies had gotten together on an app, they might have shortcut Uber and all of its many dubious practices. They finally are starting to but it's much too late.

Taxi-by-app existed pre-Uber, the innovation was making the taxi actual show up. Austin had the apps, and I would order one, and the taxis would get distracted on the way to my house and pick up other fares, so I couldn't go where I wanted. They had every chance to not be outcompeted by Uber, but they couldn't stop being taxis. And, here we are.

Not only did taxi by app exist way earlier, it was also wide spread ... in some big countries.

> the innovation was making the taxi actual show up

Uber regularly doesn’t show up, just playing with “4… 3… 6… minutes left”. I always have to wait half an hour at a certain location, with a message “Just book a few minutes before your trip.”

I’ve had a friend miss his flight because of Uber not showing up!

Im not sure why you got downvoted for that.

Ive noticed similar shenanigans with Uber eats - they are definitely playing around with stuff to increase profitability its clear as day.

> Uber didn't invent anything

They didn't. They innovated, practically implemented ideas that resulted in the introduction of new goods and services [1]. This is a meaningful difference.

Uber didn't invent anything. But they did pull ridesharing out of a hat.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation

I think you're definitely in the minority. For most of the world, Uber/Grab/Bolt have made transportation cheaper, safer, more convenient, and more comfortable.

It completely changed an industry. Just because you don't like the current version doesn't mean it wasn't a major innovation. Uber was just the main player in scaling and marketing a new model across the entire globe, which was a huge and costly endeavor.

LLMs have already changed how software can be written and a thousands of other business/consumer usecases, these companies are just battling it out and finding the most profitable niches. It will be a major business for a long time and the technology will mature and plateau pretty quickly. If R&D doesn't scale economically, it will just slow down and existing models will be heavily optimized to be cheaper to run.

The dot com boom resulted in very few real industries and comparing the two is not very useful.

Uber definitely screwed the workers and probably existing taxi companies, but for the users it was a huge W, at least in many parts of the world. Taxi companies are notoriously scammy and it seems to be a very universal experience.

> rather than to wave at the street (which is what I used to do to get a ride.)

Ummm taxis aren't everywhere like NYC or something. Broadly speaking Uber will pick you up in an arbitrary place and take you anywhere.

Uber is way cheaper and better than any cab ever was.

From my experience, this is not the case in many european cities. In those places the main benefit seems to be not having to interact with the cab driver.

You don't talk to your drivers? I've had a lot of genuinely good conversations in my rides. I always at least feel it out and see how much the driver wants to talk but it feels wrong to not say anything

I'm talking about the benefit to whoever is using them. Once you learn it's more expensive, there's little logic to keep on using it unless for the reason stated.

Is that still true?

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