Sometimes you get what you want, and sometimes with David Lynch and Mark Frost and Twin Peaks, it’s in the form you least suspect. Brea Grant joins us to discuss the newest member of the Blue Rose Task Force, bloody mary’s in retirement and oh, so much more.
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This is a weekly column that offers news, insights, analysis, and user tips for transportation network company (TNC) platforms like Uber and Lyft. Well, usually weekly, but the author has been somewhat preoccupied with a new job, new intensive schedule, and preparing to move in a couple of weeks. He apologizes for the lack of content updates.
Uber has launched into its second month of the 180 Days of Change campaign focused on improving the company’s strained relationship with its driver-partners. The first wave of changes was focused on earnings, and included the introduction of in-app tipping, among other improvements. This month, the theme is support, and I want to go over some of the major changes and how they could affect the rider experience.
The biggest new feature of the month is the addition of 24/7 phone support. This is a huge step as Uber has been up until now a company that is notoriously hard to get a hold of. But now, drivers can be connected to a real live human at the touch of a button for issues ranging from app glitches to vomiting riders. On the down side, the agents answering the phone lines are all in Uber’s outsourced call center in the Philippines, and on average I’ve received about the same level of helpfulness that I’ve gotten from in-app and email support (which is to say, not much). Still, with a response time of around two minutes, it definitely gets faster (non-)results.
What does this mean for riders, though? Presently, not much; contacting Uber is still limited to in-app communication, though if this program goes well there’s some hope that it could be rolled out to users as well. I’m sure everyone would love a better way to complain about that driver who drove in the wrong direction while refusing to cancel.
The next major feature is ratings protection. This is meant to invalidate low ratings from passengers that are caused by situations out of the driver’s control, like surge pricing or just about anything having to do with UberPOOL. Riders will also be prompted to give a reason for the lower rating; complaints about the fare or slow POOL trips will assumedly be excluded from a driver’s rating average.
The last major change is the addition of a return fee for lost items. Yes, drivers will now receive a minimum of $15 for going through the effort of returning lost phones and other items. While riders may grouse about the extra fee, it’s safe to assume that they don’t realize how lucky they are to get their stuff returned to them at all, nor how much work is involved in doing so. It’s very rare when an Uber driver is idle enough that they can drop everything to chase someone down because they lost their phone. The driver may be on another fare heading to another part of town, or they may already be at home and off duty. Returning a phone is a pretty major commitment in both time and fuel costs, especially if they live far away from their city’s hot spots. And yes, this is all typically unpaid, unless the phone’s owner is feeling generous. Fifteen bucks seems like fair compensation for all of that extra driving (although I think it should be more in the Los Angeles market just because of the distances regularly involved).
As for Uber’s biggest rival, Lyft, some drivers have been waiting for them to put forth their answer to the 180 Days of Change campaign. Lyft has a reputation for being more friendly to drivers (and riders), so those most loyal to the pink ‘stache are expecting Lyft to follow suit in some way with their own changes. Two of those have been announced, but they’re not quite what anyone expected.
The first is that their Power Driver Bonus program is changing in most markets, and not for the better. Various reports from drivers across the country all report the bonus targets are now much harder to achieve, and in some cases even pay less; whereas you would normally earn a bonus of ten to twenty percent of your total fares for the week, some markets are now offering flat-fare bonuses of around fifty to a hundred dollars. This is less than half of what a dedicated full-time driver would normally take home in bonuses.
The second change… well, it’s just insulting, to be honest. Lyft decided to run a pilot program in Orange County that turns late-night drivers into a mobile Taco Bell. Yes, Lyft, every driver wants to deal with drunk people eating tacos in their car at 2:30 AM. Even worse, this is the same Orange County where an Uber driver was infamously assaulted by a Taco Bell executive. How tone deaf can one company be?
Uber’s 180 Days of Change aren’t over yet, but I’m still waiting to see what Lyft’s proper response will be, if they bother to make one at all. I hope they do, because two companies that want to make their drivers happy are much better than just one. And happy drivers will definitely make for happier TNC experiences for those who call them.
Sekani Wright is an experienced TNC driver working in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. If you have any questions you would like answered for this column, you can contact him at djsekani at gmail dot com, or on twitter and reddit at the username djsekani. Have a safe trip!
Real tech stories. Really shaky analysis.
If you thought the celebratory fireworks ended earlier this month, think again. This July also marks two years of the Tech Views on dailytechnewsshow.com! (Boom. Crackle.)
And as you are certainly aware, the two-year anniversary of a blog has been known—dating as far back as half an hour ago–as the Create-A-Patreon anniversary.
Not one to spit in the face of cherished traditions, I’ve done just that. If you’d like to be a vital part of helping this nonsense reach a third anniversary and beyond (and maybe even return it to weekly nonsense) please check out the newly minted patreon.com/techviews.
Not only will you be supporting the most blatantly misguided technology analysis available on today’s internet, but there are reward levels providing you the end-of-year book of collected columns, the ability throughout the year to demand coverage of your favorite story (or of a really boring earnings report, if it would be more fun to challenge me), and even choosing a word or phrase that I will have to use in the next Tech Views (parsley? panic room? Parasigmatism?*).
Exciting, right? Patreon.com/techviews is like the Disneyland of blog support!
Okay, on to the shaky analysis…
The Worst Part Is All The Other Robots Calling Him KnightSoak
A Knightscope security robot was found floating in an office plaza fountain Monday. The robot was equipped with facial-recognition capability, HD video capture, infrared and ultrasonic sensors, and an irresistible desire for loose change.
Just For Fun, How Much For Skynet.com?
PayPal began its life as x.com, a domain obtained by founder Elon Musk. Musk has now bought back the x.com domain from Paypal, citing “great sentimental value, and certainly not because I’m distracting you with electric cars and tunnels and rockets while I create real life X-Men.”
A Netflix Original: BLOW (Billionaire Legends Of Wrestling)
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been arguing recently over the possible negative effects of artificial intelligence, Musk warning that, unregulated, it is “a fundamental risk to the existence of civilization,” while Zuckerberg called it “totally rad, dude.”
Okay, what the Facebook CEO actually said was “that kind of talk is irresponsible.”
Musk countered that Zuckerberg’s understanding “is limited.”
However this plays out, I know we can all agree that the most unfortunate aspect of these two extremely intelligent, forward-thinking tech billionaires going after each other is, of course, that it is too late for their claymation likenesses to pummel the hell out of each other on MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch.
I’ll Install It As Soon As I Bring This Order Of Chips Up The Lift To My Flat
Microsoft Windows’ Fall Creators Update will be known as the Autumn Creators Update in the UK, as they don’t tend to refer to the season as “fall.”
“If that doesn’t annoy the Americans enough, see if we can work “zed” in there; that makes them crazy,” chuckled UK citizens.
Sorry, Not Sorry
500 Startups co-founder/CEO resigned, apologizing in a blog post for numerous acts of sexual harassment. Naturally, many were quick to claim that he had “pulled an Uber.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, that’s not fair,” said an Uber spokesperson. “When was the last time you saw us apologize?”
A Milestone Is A Milestone
Lyft recently hit one million daily riders,** a mark Uber reached in 2014.
“Haha,” said the Uber spokesperson, “I bet they haven’t even reached 100 sexual harassment claims yet.”
What Do You Mean The Security Code Is On The Other Side?
The UK government is going to start requiring porn sites to obtain proof that users are at least eighteen years old, possibly via a verifiable credit card, causing parents across the country to marvel at their sixteen-year-old son’s sudden intense desire to “Ummm… Snapchat the cool checkered tablecloth” when dad calls for the check at the pizza place and slaps down his Visa.
ApPal
Apple is allowing the use of PayPal for purchases in the App Store and iTunes.
That’s all. Nothing really funny about it. Just thought the headline was kind of mildly clever.
IPO, Here I Come
Google has formed Gradient Ventures to invest $1-8 million in each of 10-15 early AI startups.
Hey Google, have I mentioned my startup, which uses a sophisticated AI algorithm that creates headlines for tech stories by mashing together two company names in a kind of mildly clever way?
The Other Team Won’t Stand Still Long Enough
Logitech spent $85 million to acquire Astro Gaming, maker of headsets for professional gamers on consoles. It’s probably money well spent—I’m told that hearing your teammates with crystal clear fidelity is actually an enjoyable experience when every comment isn’t “I’m on your team, idiot! Stop shooting me!”
We Are Easily Amused
The second-generation Pixel XL is expected to have a curved rear surface and a squeezable frame. “Same way I like my women,” said approximately 3.5 billion snickering men.
Of Course, They’d Just Put Cute Filters Over The Scars
Apple is expected to add 3D lasers to the iPhone’s rear-facing camera. Don’t get too excited though; they aren’t that kind of laser, as we learned when they announced adding them to the front–facing camera and it turned out they were to aid in selfie taking rather than as the hoped-for deterrent to the hordes obstructing every photo worthy tourist attraction for ten minutes each while beaming more and bigger smiles at their camera than they have provided for any member of their family over the past ten years.
Stupid wrong lasers.
Play To Your Strength
Verizon had six million customer accounts compromised, shocking the industry with just how quickly recent acquisition Yahoo made its presence felt.
Ask Not For Whom The Tone Tolls
Ticketmaster has partnered with Lisnr, a provider of data-over-audio technology, to use “smart tones” to help assess the validity of electronic tickets. Aside from adopting tech with the DOA acronym, this seems like a fine idea, because the tones would fall in a kilohertz range that 90% of humans can’t hear, and if it turns out the tones are insistent and discordant enough to drive the other 10% mad to the point of clamping their hands over their ears as they run screaming from the venue, then some pretty choice seats will open up.
For My Next Hack, I Will Break Into This Safe Using Nothing More Than The Combination
It turns out anyone could recover the password to MySpace accounts if they knew the username and birthday.
MySpace executives were stunned to learn this, and acted quickly to remedy the unnecessarily convoluted process. Now you just have to click on a statement saying you will access the damned account once a year and it’s yours.
“Video Game? You Lost Me,” Said Bill Belichick
ActivisionBlizzard has announced the first seven teams in its Overwatch league, including a Boston franchise owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
“Yes, we’ve had a lot of success on the football field,” said Kraft, “but believe me, we have a lot to learn here. Like, as I understand it, these teams don’t practice in big, open fields, which will definitely make spying on them tougher. And there’s a shocking lack of research on the optimal amount of air to release from a controller.”
There we go—two years of Tech Views in the books. Remember, if you are one of the discerning individuals who enjoy less “news” in your tech news—patreon.com/techviews.
BONUS: If you are one of the first fifty to support the Tech Views, you get to say you were one of the first fifty to support the Tech Views! Bragging rights! A part of history! Sure, technically, everything is part of history. You eating breakfast this morning is part of history. But still…
* The inability to pronounce the sound ‘s’, apparently. Who knew?
** Not physically. Even Uber doesn’t go that far.
Monthly Tech Views by Mike Range is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
BBC Three is streaming of Elite League Series One. Is this a sign that traditional broadcasters see the value in eSports? USB 3.2 is coming and its twice as fast. Amazon has new solution for delivering packages to Apartments. Join Roger, Len and Jenn Cutter as we discuss.
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Buzzfeed sells a hot plate, YouTube Red folding into itself and Self Driving car talk takes Washington.
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Steve Grobman, Senior VP and CTO for McAfee talks about using AI for what it does best and humans for what they do best to improve security and more.
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What is Amazon’s secret Healthcare “Skunk Works” all about? And can AMD’s budget Ryzen chips compete with Intel’s? Justin Robert Young and Paul Spain discuss in today’s show!
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Record earnings for Samsung, good news for Facebook and mixed bag for Twitter.
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Google stops instant search, Apple partners for cochlear implants and why 2021 is predicted to be amazing.
With Rachel Metz, Scott Johnson and Tom Merritt
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Preacher (204-205), Game of Thrones (702), Firefly (The Train Job), Summer Movie Draft.
00:46 – Summer Movie Draft
05:21 – Preacher (204-205)
16:13 – Game of Thrones (702)
26:34 – Firefly – The Train Job
