It's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that the gig economy allows the creation of services that were previously unthinkable. I also find it ironic that Uber drivers are discussed from a point of exploited labor, while AirBNB renters are treated like greedy landlords - both services being very much alike: a way for individuals to provide services with their underutilized resources (time, vehicles, apartments).

An evening job at a telemarketing call center is also a way for an individual to provide services with their underutilized resources. But we have no trouble recognizing that as a "job", with an "employer", and all the attendant obligations.

If the telemarketing "job" was start/stop-when-you-want, get-paid-by-the-minute, then we would certainly have trouble recognizing this as an employer/employee relationship. Especially if it was being done from home using your own phone.

See liveops. http://www.liveops.com/

They've already done this. And from their careers page (http://www.liveops.com/company/careers-jobs) they are characterizing their operators as independent contractors, if I am reading the verbiage correctly.

(Source, I interviewed there and received an offer which I declined)

Uber didn't invent sporadic hours: that's a "feature" we (rightly) criticize in retail businesses that use software to rotate staff through multiple stores on bizarre, untenable schedules. Once again, the only thing I can see that's getting Uber a free pass is that they stuck a consumer app into the mix.

Retail schedule is controlled by the employer. Gig economy schedule is controlled by the employee.

But Uber drivers are not rotated. They are free to work when and where they wish.

So? This is the hair we're down to splitting?

This is hardly a hair. This is one of the several factors that the IRS explicitly tells us determines the difference between an employee and independent contractor. There's a list.

The analogy doesn't work, because AirBnB renters aren't a labor force.

An AirBNBer renting her place out isn't precluded from renting out other places, working another job, or being absent for any other reason. An Uber driver might try to interleave runs with Lyft, but that's risky, and while actually driving someone, the driver isn't free to do anything else.

I am sure I was using taxis at least 20 years before Uber appeared. Not sure what kind of never before seen service the people gigging there are providing.

... and no one dares to claim independent taxi operators are employees. They are service providers - they own the equipment and work on their own hours, subject to regulated price. The same goes to Uber, all they did was to change dispatch.