The establishment vs Uber

[Hammerskjold]

So, What Really Happened with the Government vs. Uber?

A company creating something altogether new in an industry still in its infancy may not have established players or protectionist laws in its way. On the other hand, a startup offering an innovative product that disrupts a well-established, politically privileged industry may find itself besieged by lawsuits and bureaucrats.

Uber is a startup, but let's be clear here. It is not really an underfed, malnourished but adorably scrappy underdog. When it has some cash infusion from Google Ventures,

http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/22/google-...deal-ever/


it's probably not a newsie in a poboy cap with only it's moxie to earn it's daily bread. Which the big bad gov't bureaucrat is withholding, as -always-, with some moustache twirling and slinging red tape.


Now with that out of the way, let's discuss some of the more interesting and practical issues this brings up.

If google finally makes a working driverless \auto navigator car system, and combines it with Uber, Johnny Cab might finally be here for real.



Hopefully less Uncanny Valley like.

Seriously, a human driver is increasingly seen as expensive (think insurance side), not the most reliable or at least inconsistent, and fragile component of a driving system.

Automation\robotics systems is already happening\increasing in the aerial drones sector (military and civil purposes), and to me it's looking more likely that driving might go the same way.

So, it will be a test to see if innovation, "creative destruction" and competition are allowed. Or, if the establishment bureaucracy and protectionist forces of local government regulation prevail. I suspect the latter, actually.

I once got sideswiped by an unlicensed cab van. I had to dodge some potential collisions with a few licensed cabs driven by a person who made me think "how did they manage to get a license at all". And yes, I also had some excellent cab rides driven by some genuine salt of the earth types who knows how to operate a vehicle. So I want to see improvement in all aspect of our world. Most people do. But there is a 'baby v bathwater' concern here.

Now reading the blurb on the company, it does say that Uber only employs licensed drivers. I'd like to see how well that is enforced, and how accountable it is. For both the benefit of the passengers, and drivers.

And no, the traditional taxi industry is not perfect either. I'm not playing favourites here, I'd like to see continuous improvement \ vigilance on both.

As for 'creative destruction', I think I prefer Bucky Fuller's version.

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

ps. Please remember there are some of us in this discussion that has a poor grasp of Hayek(s), especially in the case of Friedrich vs Salma, and had problems understanding the differences between the two figures.

In short, you might be dealing with a snowflake unique poli-sci genius savant. So adjust your vocabulary and ideas accordingly. Speak -only- in literal terms, s-l-o-w-e-r, and LOUDER.