There is nothing special or unique about Uber. Yes, their app is pretty. Yes, they are ubiquitous around the world. But there is nothing about it that cannot be copied by a Chinese state-owned enterprise. One could argue Uber's only major advantage is its waterfall of investors.
Uber's most significant long tail value is their heaps of traffic flow and passenger data. Sounds like the exact kind of thing a rich and historically totalitarian regime would want for themselves. And if you want to spot patterns in a potential dissident, it helps to know where they go.
More riders = more drivers. More drivers = more riders opening that app first. I have personally learned to check Uber first before Lyft because I know Uber drivers are closer and the fare estimate will be lower. Uber's advantage is their institutional experience pushing competitors out of markets they want and their cutthroat attitude.
In the cities (Denver, Austin, Portland, Las Vegas...) I've been spending time in recently I've felt like the opposite. Lyft seems to have more drivers and Lyft is almost always cheaper. I've been told by drivers that they try to drive for Lyft as much as possible as they get a bigger cut of the fare, but I have no idea if that's true.
There is nothing special or unique about Uber. Yes, their app is pretty. Yes, they are ubiquitous around the world. But there is nothing about it that cannot be copied by a Chinese state-owned enterprise. One could argue Uber's only major advantage is its waterfall of investors.
Uber's most significant long tail value is their heaps of traffic flow and passenger data. Sounds like the exact kind of thing a rich and historically totalitarian regime would want for themselves. And if you want to spot patterns in a potential dissident, it helps to know where they go.