Pricing together existing technologies to create new innovations is exactly how things have always worked. We stand on the shoulder of giants. It is the reason why many discoveries happen simultaneously in different parts of the world. Because the latest understanding and tools available make the next innovation possible. Saying that Uber is shit for making a GPS enabled app that can act as a commissioned merchant service is like saying anyone that uses AWS is a bad company because they don’t host their own servers. SpaceX filling in a government void is a great entrepreneur story and puts the scope on how significant government overspending is. The internet would have come about even without ARPANET. University labs were already messing around with these systems and were all working towards transmission protocols.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The main reason I called Uber shit was this:

abused a completely unregulated space to grow and dominate the market

And I didn't even mention how they began fucking their "partners" (drivers) after their place was consolidated. Not too different from what Amazon did for years to grow into "the" online marketplace despite competition.

When I said that capitalism doesn't do itself any favors, the reasoning was mainly that. Any innovations or "innovations" are beside the point when the companies and people with a certain amount of money can simply bend the rules to their will. The Microsoft antitrust case in the late 90s became a nothingburger. FacebookMeta after the Cambridge Analytica scandal turned into nothing. Amazon can probably buy its way out of a possible antitrust suit, which is still "being considered". There's a reason people joke about "finger wagging" and "wrist slapping" being the biggest punishment the rich ever get

[–] porkins@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Sorry for the late reply. Busy week being a slave to the system. Need to work hard to play hard though.

Uber did exactly what it should have. It tapped into a blue ocean, creating a brand new vertical in a stale market. This is capitalism at its best, bringing something innovative and useful into the world.

They never presented the gig economy as a career path. It’s a side hustle. Anyone complaining that they can’t feed their family off it is missing the point. It was meant to be something that you do with your car in between jobs for some extra spending money.

I agree that we have an issue with those in power not enforcing market regulation. Plato predicted this too. These are not new concepts by any means. He also said that redistribution of wealth doesn’t work either. His utopian society was a bit wired though. I don’t like the part where no one owns anything.

If anything we need a reset of congressional term limits. That alone might help get more interesting people into politics.