Saturday, September 20, 2014

Uber'd

One of the most annoying subgenres of 1st World Problems is people complaining that the taxi service Uber is less than perfect. This is a totally and completely shocking development. I thought that having an app meant they were perfect!

I'm not against services like Uber. I worry that they'll hurt the hailable cab supply, and I think all good cities should have readily hailable cabs. They should operate under whatever existing regulatory regime there is, though it is also the case that many cities have regulatory regimes which aren't exactly good for either drivers or customers.

But Uber isn't magic. They're just cab drivers who get summoned with an app. And if you're bragging about how cheap your cab ride was, it means that your driver isn't getting paid shit.