First It Was Easy Taxi, Now Uber Doa?!

[Ceviche]

Ceviche, Sockhopper et al: no one would force you to use Uber if you prefer taxis. We just want to be able to choose.

Its not just about having 'options'. Its also about the consequences.

I do not want 'disruption' in the city ( which I love extremely and from the core of my heart) for a cause which is not important at all . Or perhaps the only cause is to fill the coffers of Ashton Kutcher.

http://www.thefreedi....com/disruption

 

[joeschmoe1920]

Its not just about having 'options'. Its also about the consequences.

I do not want 'disruption' in the city for a cause which is not important at all .

http://www.thefreedi....com/disruption

Sometimes I wonder if you're a paid troll, but then I realize no one would pay for your posts.

 

[Ceviche]

Sometimes I wonder if you're a paid troll, but then I realize no one would pay for your posts.

Personal attacks is what you do, when you run out of arguments.

On that note - I hope they are paying you, for getting reprimanded should one dare to say anything against the immigration system of the first world nations.

 

[semigoodlookin]

I write for two Uber oriented websites, so know quite a bit about the company as I write upwards of 15 articles per week on Uber.

There really is no right or wrong here as taxi drivers and the industry do not have a divine right to monpolize a market, consumers deserve choice and Uber provides it. That said, the company flies in the face of regulations under the guise that it is a technology company and its drivers are merely freelancers. Fair enough, but this means the company operates illegally in virtually every market it is in, which in turn means uninsured drivers. Seattle's decision to allow Uber drivers to form a union could change a few things for the company, while local governments are slowly finding ways to stop the company's expansion.

That said, if Uber plans to come here, then it will probably thrive as it has everywhere else. I welcome it because it gives more choice, plus I think the taxi drivers in this city are collectively poor at their job (come at me supporters of the industry).

 

[scotttswan]

wtf is an uber oriented website? :lol:

 

[semigoodlookin]

wtf is an uber oriented website? :lol:

News about Uber, specifically Uber auto insurance for the Canadian market.

 

[MikeB12]

Ceviche, I agree with you that most of the taxi's here are pretty honest, social, and knowledgable. I prefer them to many many other cities.

However, I wouldn't categorize the battle in the terms you've stated above. Ashton Kutcher vs the common working man.

The taxi king of Buenos Aires who might have the most to lose is actually a Goldman Sachs alum, who's hedge fund was accused of fraud -

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-07-27/former-goldman-options-trader-moonlights-as-argentina-taxi-king

It's more like Yankee Capitalist vs Yankee Capitalist

 

[Noesdeayer]

Awesome Possum :
Please, stop with the bad old capitalist,trite out of style, populist lingo.
They both saw a business investment opportunity and they took it. The 1st one saw an opportunity created by oversupply of a service in an economy going very quickly into total bottom out where 43 % of the population got some sort of state assistance.
The second wants to get in on the ground floor of an economy that is projected to grow rather quickly in the next few years.
Now there's even a Disney World in China.Gimme a break already.Not everybody is a Mother Teresa.

 

[MikeB12]

It was tongue in cheek. My point was when you look at the major stake holders, the battle is between wealthy investors, not celebrity tech investors and the working man. It would be good to see the taxi monopoly broken up. They have been rent seeking for way too long.

 

[Noesdeayer]

Absolutely! Almost all union activity in Argentina is totally rent seeking.It's one of the country's main economic problems stemming from huge innate risk aversion..