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A comment on The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later. Parent comment

Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by IgorPartola on Friday September 16, 2016 @03:57PM (#12516856)
It's mostly sarcasm, but Uber is one example of several companies whose business model was to disrupt an entrenched industry by providing more value than they were charging for, capture market share, then raise prices. Basically, initially it was cheaper to take an Uber than a Taxi. Currently that's no longer the case.
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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by Finbarr on Friday September 16, 2016 @04:46PM (#12517205)
In the SF Bay Area it's still way cheaper to take Uber than a Taxi.
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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by nodesocket on Friday September 16, 2016 @08:59PM (#12518523)
In many cities it is still cheaper to Uber than Taxi. Personally I know it is cheaper to Uber than taxi in San Francisco, Stockholm, Cluj (Romania), Prague, and Brussels.
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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by guyzero on Friday September 16, 2016 @04:56PM (#12517285)
In the one urban area that has the worst taxi service in the US, Uber is winning. Great!
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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by MichaelBurge on Friday September 16, 2016 @05:12PM (#12517393)
I'm not sure I understand your point. Are you claiming that they're losing in every single other market?

At least in Portland, I've never taken a taxi in my life, but have taken probably a dozen Ubers.

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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by BeetleB on Friday September 16, 2016 @05:35PM (#12517537)
>At least in Portland, I've never taken a taxi in my life, but have taken probably a dozen Ubers.

Which is one reason why Uber is winning. You do not even bother to check taxi fares.

I checked Uber rates to get to the airport. Not cheaper than taxi - about the same.

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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by brownbat on Friday September 16, 2016 @08:56PM (#12518513)
> I checked Uber rates to get to the airport. Not cheaper than taxi - about the same.

Did people stop tipping cabs?

Maybe you meant Ubers were 20% more expensive, or maybe people don't tip cabs anymore, I don't know.

Honestly I'd pay more than cabfare + tips just to have the price be explicit. Tips basically become a tax on nice people. I'd much rather everyone was paying the same price.

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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by Veen on Monday September 19, 2016 @04:26AM (#12529812)
I live in Hungary where the taxis are pretty cheap but you have to call them, and there's not guarantee that you'll get someone who can speak English.

When I first got here, I used Uber all the time, but the government passed some anti-über laws and Uber withdrew from the market. Now I just use the public transport, which is pretty good, but less convenient than Uber. I felt bad for all the drivers that lost their jobs.

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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by serge2k on Friday September 16, 2016 @07:31PM (#12518151)
Cheaper in Seattle too.

They are still losing billions a year.

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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by friendlygrammar on Friday September 16, 2016 @08:27PM (#12518409)
It's cheaper everywhere in the US
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Re:The man behind the million dollar homepage 11 years later by freshyill on Friday September 16, 2016 @10:25PM (#12518786)
While the lower price was nice, one of the biggest selling points for Uber with me was convenience and a guaranteed minimum level of quality. While Uber is as cheap and convenient as ever for me (in and around DC), the quality has seriously suffered. I've been in some pretty beat Uber cars, and one time the driver got out to pee behind the car.
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