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After Uber's success, nearly every pitch made by starry-eyed technologists “in Silicon Valley seemed to morph overnight into an ‘Uber for X’ startup" with various companies described now as “Uber for massages,” “Uber for alcohol,” and “Uber for laundry and dry cleaning,” among many, many other things. The conventional narrative is this: enabled by smartphones, enterprising young businesses are using technology to connect a vast market willing to pay for convenience with small businesses or people seeking flexible work. Now Leo Marini writes that the Uber narrative ignores another vital ingredient, without which this new economy would fall apart: inequality.
"There are only two requirements for an on-demand service economy to work, and neither is an iPhone," says Marini. "First, the market being addressed needs to be big enough to scale—food, laundry, taxi rides. Without that, it’s just a concierge service for the rich rather than a disruptive paradigm shift, as a venture capitalist might say. Second, and perhaps more importantly, there needs to be a large enough labor class willing to work at wages that customers consider affordable and that the middlemen consider worthwhile for their profit margins." There is no denying the seductive nature of convenience—or the cold logic of businesses that create new jobs, whatever quality they may be concludes Marini. "All that modern technology has done is make it easier, through omnipresent smartphones, to amass a fleet of increasingly desperate jobseekers eager to take whatever work they can get."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 20 2014, @04:16AM
"Uber isn't exploiting anyone, they are offering a service that rational and willing actors look at and sign up for." Absolute BS. Uber can only offer their service because the economy is poor and there are a lot of desperate people willing to do anything to try to make enough money to eat and pay rent. If the economy didn't suck Uber wouldn't be able to get drivers at the crappy rates they pay. And if they paid more they wouldn't be cheaper than the competition and no one would care. Also, just wait until an Uber driver is in an accident and someone is injured and the insurance companies get involved. How many Uber drivers have the right levels of insurance? And how long until Uber drivers start noticing the extra wear and tear on their cars are coming out of their already measly wages?
Also, is it really fair to say that desperate workers are "rational and willing"? Since when does poverty and desperation lead to rational and willing behavior? Low income workers don't have the luxury to act rationally. As an example, buying items at dollar stores is more expensive than buying bulk at a supermarket or Target or Costco. BUT if you don't have the capital to buy in bulk you are stuck paying more for fewer goods. Even if they know they are getting ripped off the poor don't often have a choice.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Saturday December 20 2014, @05:14AM
Uber can only offer their service because the economy is poor...
So? Assume you are correct. People are still making a rational decision in bad circumstances. Guess what sport? Life sometimes sucks, bad times come (especially when a society does stupid things....) and everything isn't always unicorns shittin' Skittles. People are dealing with it. If your assessment is correct, they are doing what they must to put vittles in the cupboard and pay the rent. Apparently you don't like that, perhaps you would prefer they simply starve and thus reduce the surplus population? Your alternative would be? Eh? Speak up, we can't hear you.
If you are right, all we need do is elect a few more Republicans (especially a POTUS) and reignite the economy and Uber will cease to exist. Ok, maybe you are even correct. But yet again I retort, So?
If the market doesn't support Uber in good economic times, that sucks for the idiots buying Uber stock at prices not seen since the last .bomb went off, but stupid people are supposed to lose their money on the stock market. I'm still failing to see a downside for anyone else. So long as people are free to choose to deal with or not deal with Uber, it is all good. It is the invisible hand of the market reallocating capital from the incompetent to those better able to put those resources to productive use.