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.