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Tracking, arrival timer and an easy app.

The fact that they would actually show up.

Before Uber, you needed to call the cab company at least an hour before you wanted to get anywhere (in a city where you can get anywhere in 15 minutes). The dispatcher would tell you someone will be there in 20 minutes and, if you were lucky, somebody might show up in 45. Before Uber, there was more than one occasion where I ended up stranded downtown until 4 or 5am after the bars had closed at 3:00.

Being able to request a ride, having someone reliably show up, and show up reasonably close to when they said they would was an absolute game changer at the time.

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14th_cylon@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

The fact that they would actually show up.

unless you see the uber car circling around you on the map, then canceling the ride and cashing in the “cancelation fee”

The dispatcher would tell you someone will be there in 20 minutes and, if you were lucky, somebody might show up in 45. Before Uber, there was more than one occasion where I ended up stranded downtown until 4 or 5am after the bars had closed at 3:00.

yeah, but this is not an invention of uber. it is just that technology allowed what was not possible before. yes, uber was faster to adapt it than traditional taxi industry, but they are not doing it for your blue eyes, they are doing it for profit and they do lot of shady stuff to achieve it.

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- commandar@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  
  unless you see the uber car circling around you on the map, then canceling the ride and cashing in the “cancelation fee”
  
  That’s a relatively new phenomenon as people have learned how to game the system. The reliability of Uber when they first launched was complete night and day.
  
  yes, uber was faster to adapt it than traditional taxi industry, but they are not doing it for your blue eyes, they are doing it for profit and they do lot of shady stuff to achieve it.
  
  I never said otherwise. I was merely providing an example of why Uber gained adoption early on. The service was materially better than what taxi companies were delivering at the time in many places. I experienced that first hand.
  
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  - 14th_cylon@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
    
    That’s a relatively new phenomenon
    
    that’s definitely going on for at least 5 years
    
    I was merely providing an example of why Uber gained adoption early on.
    
    ok, from that point of view it definitely makes sense
    
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    commandar@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
    
    that’s definitely going on for at least 5 years
    
    Keyword: relatively.
    
    Uber’s been around 15 years.
    
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Aceticon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
Which is both a good point and quite a different scenario from what’s being illustrated here which is just Uber’s version of a taxi stand.

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