The network effects issue is real, some kind of open graph could potentially be the answer, as upstart social networks start with the disadvantage of having to connect everyone somehow.
That said, I worry about the Myanmar thread: there, The Internet is synonymous with Facebook, and people trust it as an authority. The masses who are unequipped to think critically aren't going to be persuaded to choose something else as long as the platform keeps serving up paid "news" ads and click bait that reinforces their beliefs.
The powerful ability for a platform to target specific humans or allow any one to represent a trustworthy new organisation is problematic. These are interesting places to start too.
They need to be in the self driving car game or the company has maybe a 7-10 year life span. Managing that innovation is necessary, and it's unclear they are optimizing around that.
The other interpretation is this decision is entirely about managing short term to get to an IPO, so investors who have lost faith can cash out. The candidate they are considering fits that bill more closely.
As valuearb has pointed out in other comments, it's not at all clear that Uber needs to be in the self-driving car game to the point of making self-driving car technology, any more than they need to be in the human-driven taxi game they're in now to the point of buying an automobile manufacturer.
It's not at all unreasonable to think that the way to save Uber is to ruthlessly cut costs and focus on the business of fleet and driver management, without banking on the assumption that the drivers are all going to go away within a decade. They should certainly still be watching autonomous cars, and perhaps find someone to partner with the way Lyft has with Google/Waymo, but I'm not at all convinced that's a business they should actually be in.
(I also suspect that the belief that we're going to have "level five" autonomous cars within the decade is far too optimistic. Also, an awful lot of discussions apparently assume the vast majority of consumers will, as soon as it becomes practical, stop buying cars and switch to autonomous taxis for all transportation needs. At least among American consumers, I'm going to stamp that with "[citation needed]" until further notice.)
Why would anyone who is working on their own products partner with Uber (or Lyft etc.)? It's pretty clear that a genuine self-driving product would demolish the human driving equivalent. Forget network effect, it's going to be way cheaper.
Because, if they're still in business long-term, 1.) they're potentially a very big customer and 2.) They can be a great source of data and broader insights about exactly how people use/want to use taxis in different locations. What are the patterns? Pickup and dropoff points. Etc.
Yeah, I find unethical news out of Uber... unsurprising. I mean, most of their business-model has been based on willfully breaking local laws for profit, in the hope that they can grow into a bully that can ignore the consequences.
With that at the core, it's no surprise that other areas exhibit the same rot.
Pretty much. All of these SF startup CEOs just rotate around companies and start new ones. The whole mentality there from the (moronic) angel investors to the people they hire as CEOs propagates and rewards the culture common at these shops.
Back then, we had a attorney general who had an interest in dealing with the problem, under an administration that could help deploy the government to deal with bad actors. That's all changed now, and the populous saw the gap, with the ACLU being well equipped to advocate for the same issues.
1). Agree with many that Bluetooth (or another open protocol) is really the way to solve, but the incentives are low to implement universally as the common operating systems in our devices have shifted dramatically in the last 10 years.
2) remember the brief peer-to-peer revolution? Bit torrent, kazaa and emule were (are) pretty effective but have a bad reputation from being used for file piracy.
3). Because of #2, it's been safer for businesses to conform to the SaaS models / garden walls. (Monetizing them is also better understood)
I'd imagine a simple device that broadcasts noise or fake signals would be enough to throw it off. Lots of principles used in speed trap jammers could be used.
