[CPLX]

I agree, Uber drivers seem to be getting progressively more clueless and inexperienced. Last night I had one that would just stare at the moving map on the GPS, without any situational awareness at all, up to the point where we were down to about 15mph on an interstate highway while he tried to figure out which of the tangle of exit ramps it wanted him to take, which was wildly unsafe. It did occur to me that for all the frustration cab drivers engendered, they did actually like know how to get from the major airport to the major train station without getting confused and stopping in the middle of the highway.

That is what it is, but the larger point I think it inspires, as does your post, is that I can't see how Uber can possibly claim that it's going to be able to generate some kind of monopoly profits from the whole endeavor.

Theoretically the whole point of all this insane fundraising and spending is that Uber will, one day, be in some dominant and unassailable position, and can raise prices. But that doesn't make any sense, they're increasingly making it clear that they have a commodity product at best. How they plan to defend that as a monopoly is a mystery.

And let's talk about self driving cars when there's at least one single car somewhere in the world that actually can drive itself somewhere without a driver present. Until that day, which is likely in the semi-distant future, we're talking about the economics and practical effects of an app based car and driver hailing service.

And lastly, it's probably worth noting the parent commenter posting multiple times in this thread defending the company actually works for Uber, and has a HN posting history almost entirely composed of defending the companies who pay him: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbarone

[bananabill]

I've been noticing that too. When I was trying to go to Github Universe the cab driver ended up taking a call from his kid's daycare, meanwhile driving me to the wrong pier, stopping at a power station and asking if this was the right place.

Also, every uber driver I had when visiting virginia would ask me how to get where I wanted to go. I would have to tell them that I have no idea, and then we'd get lost.

I guess I assume that these drivers would eventually get weeded out thanks to the rating system, but since the system isn't anonymous, I think most people rate 5 stars no matter what.

[xapata]

> isn't anonymous

They don't know who rated them what. All they know is their average over the last 500 riders.

[ceras]

Counter-anecdote: I've had an NYC cab driver stop in the middle of the interstate trying to figure out which way to go next to JFK. It was pretty scary. The driver quality in both services seems very low to me.