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Comment by shiggerino | Hacker News Reader

I hate calling for cabs, waiting in a queue, answering all sorts of irrelevant questions beyond where I want to be picked up, only to have the cab show up at the wrong place anyway. So Uber is definitely scratching an itch. An itch that the traditional taxi companies can just as easily scratch with an app of their own.

So they'd better clear the road and start hacking, because this strike won't save them in the long run.

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In Bratislava (at least), there is a taxi service operating over multiple companies and independent drivers. I've never used it, but it's apparently pretty good. You rate drivers and all. Still under all the TAXI regulation. I think that's the right way to do things.

The local taxi company I usually use in Amsterdam had an app before Uber was even a thing.

That's a lame excuse. The only itch Uber is scratching is the libertarian itch to circumvent consumer protection, environmental protection and labour laws.

> The only itch Uber is scratching is the libertarian itch to circumvent consumer protection, environmental protection and labour laws.

A coworker of mine has an amusing tale to illustrate how well consumer-protection laws protected him when his NYC taxi driver, driving on an illegally-borrowed medallion, demanded cash (instead of credit) to keep the transaction off the books, briefly holding him hostage and threatening to steal his luggage.

Yes, because theft and extortion are covered by consumer protection laws.

Oh, wait...

You do realize that the only difference Uber here makes is that it makes it easier for the criminal in question, since doesn't even have to bother stealing a medallion or have car that looks like a taxi?

Consumer protection? You have the ultimate consumer protection, choice.

Restricting choice won't solve issues with cabs.

I love simply raising my arm to have a driver arrive to take me anywhere, having a conversation in a way that two only two total strangers can, & arriving at my destination for the equivalent of one hours work on minimum wage (Sydney).

Cabs.

I love that this is profitable, and is a job that lots of folk can get. One cabbie I talked to once used to program VAX machines.

So, because you live and travel around populated places, you don't see the problem. Therefore, it must not exist.

In SF, it's great if you life in the mission, bad if you live in the Richmond. (Actually, there's a good app that works with the cabs there, but before that...)

In Boston, don't live in Dorchester or JP. Calling a cab here is unreliable.

Living in a more sparse city, the only way to get a cab is dispatch. It's terrible.

> In Boston, don't live in Dorchester or JP. Calling a cab here is unreliable.

I one time opened the Uber app in Dorchester. A driver accepted me. I watched him drive around the fens in circles for the next half hour (literally, Park Drive to Fenway to Park Drive to Fenway). So I cancelled the fare. And Uber then charged me a $10 fee because I cancelled more than 5 minutes after the driver accepted.

Don't know what the fuck that was all about, but the one time I tried in Dorchester, Uber was horrid.

>Living in a more sparse city, the only way to get a cab is dispatch. It's terrible.

Isn't Uber basically dispatch? Or are there extra fees involved? Serious question

It's essentially dispatch, but done in a customer-friendly way.

I guess someone could do something about that. Stallman thinks Uber is a good candidate for a GPL clone. Smartphones, servers & drivers.

Good thing you can have that exact same experience on Uber, word-for-word except replace "hitting a button on my smartphone" for "raising my arm".

Then add the benefit of Uber also working a bit away from those busy downtown streets where just raising your arm is actually enough to get a cab.

good that you enjoy it, but this is about France, most socialistic country in western Europe with crippling national strikes all the time (not condemning, just observing since I am rarely affected). People there generally often have the perception that their own job security should be held above everybody's convenience, rights and so on (it's also heavily unionized, which kind of makes sense with whole picture of the country and mentality). It's just not a very competitive job market

They do, at least big taxi companies : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.taxisg7.gra...

A step in the right direction, at least. Problem is, if I come to a new town I probably won't be checking the app store. So it would have to be something that spans the whole EU. Also, EU needs to be a single data roaming zone, it's completely ridiculous the way it is now. It's often the same damn cell provider, but because it's a different country there's a completely unreasonable extra charge and an insulting data cap.

Edit: looking at the reviews, apparently they charge for the trip to your location before they even pick you up, which is just stupid. Wouldn't they actually want to encourage using the app so people aren't clogging the call centres?

Why do you think it won't save them? Uber has been banned and ruled illegal. I doubt that'll be overturned.

The strike is just to raise public awareness of multinational companies coming in and not following regulations to make more profit.

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