[flexie]

Yeah. Let's see how it plays out :-)

I remember how the music industry teamed up with politicians, and used police and courts to go after Napster and KaZaA. The founders of those companies were considered thugs by the establishment back then - thieves even.

Later, one of the Napster guys made money on Facebook and the KaZaA duo made money on Skype. Now they are all considered superhero entrepreneurs.

Napster and KaZaA didn't make much money but the next generation downloading and streaming apps such as iTunes, Spotify etc. did and personally I haven't bought a CD for years.

Maybe Uber will go down in lawsuits and prohibitions, maybe not, but the taxi industry has already been disrupted and if Uber doesn't defeat the taxis, other companies will. People have been shown much more comfortable and cheaper ways of getting a ride.

Just like I don't want to bother paying $20 going to the mall to buy 11 crappy songs on a disc in order to get that one song that I want to listen to, taxi riders don't want to bother with the expensive taxi tsars of their hometown.

Personally, I don't care if Uber or another nicer or more legal alternative wins. As long as the taxi companies lose.

[mironathetin]

"Personally, I don't care if Uber or another nicer or more legal alternative wins. As long as the taxi companies lose."

Agreed. In my home town taxis break every rule that you can imagine in the name of their precious business. I've seen them ignoring priorities, bicycles, pedestrians, speed limits, I've seen taxis using walkways and bike lanes to avoid red lights. Indicating the direction is out of fashion since long.

My last taxis ride to the airport was with 180 km/h on a street with 100 km/h limit while the driver was flipping through a folder on his dashboard in order to organize - whatever - with his company. Not to speak about the noise of taxis dashing through the town at 3 in the morning.

Yes, I don't like what I read about uber, but alternatives for taxis are overdue.

[seanmcdirmid]

Damn, but given all that, how does everyone else drive? Is it the taxis being especially reckless, or is there a car culture of recklessness because the police aren't around enforcing traffic rules? In most asian countries, at least, if the taxis are reckless, everyone else is also.

[mironathetin]

;o) Taxis are worst. Everyone else has much more respect, although, everything that is done by taxi drivers can also be seen from others, but rarely.

Police does not have sufficient personnel to catch them all. But I think, because with their drivers license taxi drivers would lose their job, the police looks away much more (this is a pure guess). Taxi drivers are also well connected and have their police info system. That is a fact,as you hear it, when you use a taxi. There is constant exchange about traffic control over radio.

Do the uber guys have a taxi driver background and are used to being reckless? :o)

[Shivetya]

I am not all that keen on punishing the taxi companies, I am more keen of obtaining sane regulation of industries such that we quit locking out competitors or innovation.

Far too much commerce resides behind the walled garden of regulation, the worst being alcohol and tobacco; regardless how you feel about those the protection afforded by regulation and government enforcers is frightening.

Heck, if you want to see real silly, go read the horror stories in some states about enforcement on hair salons; as in if your not connected they will fine you to oblivion for any infraction they can find.

[smikhanov]

One really can only get an idea of what "taxi tsars" are for if he or she gets a ride in an unlicensed cab somewhere like, say, Russia in 1999.

I did it and the driver once asked me for more money on arrival. I refused. He said, "Oh, OK. So this is your home? I'll meet you with my friends here tomorrow then, when you'll be heading to work."

I bet India today is not that much different. I bet Costa-Rica (not sure if Uber operates there) is even worse. Every time I'm booking a licensed (and slightly more expensive) cab to the airport, I'm super happy that I know what to expect.

[jamespo]

So thanks to Spotify and iTunes obeying the rules they made money and the founders of the companies that didn't succeeded in a completely different market?

[flexie]

More or less. But would iTunes, Spotify, Netflix etc. have have had a ready market without Napster, KazaA, Pirate Bay and other file sharing sites making people used to getting music and movies online?

[wcummings]

And more importantly, would old media have felt the same pressure to license their content to these new services w/o the spectre of file sharing?