Michael Prasuhnsoftware developer and developing writerhttp://mikeyp.net2014-12-08T00:00:00+00:00Michael PrasuhnOn Uberhttp://mikeyp.net/on-uber/2014-12-08T00:00:00+00:002022-07-22T00:56:18+00:00Michael Prasuhn<p>I keep running into people who love Uber or can't wait to try it. Maybe it's not available in their city, or they don't yet have a need for it.</p>
<p>While I've used Uber's service in other cities, it hasn't yet been available here in Portland, until they launched without the city's approval last Friday. Many of my friends are surprised to hear that I'm bummed about this and that I'm not a fan of Uber. This post is about explaining some of the reasons I am not a fan of Uber and I don't want it operating in my town.</p>
<p>That said, here are a list of major concerns I have with the way Uber operates:</p>
<h3 id="accessibility">Accessibility</h3>
<p>Uber (and Lyft) <a href="http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/wheelchair-users-ride-share-uber-lyft">has been sued</a> for failing to provide an accessible service for users with wheelchairs.</p>
<p>Uber is also <a href="http://wamu.org/news/14/11/18/uber_seeks_changes_to_wheelchair_accessible_taxi_bill">seeking to change legislation</a> that would require them to increase the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles they provide:</p>
<blockquote>Uber wants to avoid any requirement to report the numbers of wheelchair-accessible trips requested and provided to passengers. Uber successfully has fought all past attempts to force the company to report trip data, claiming it is proprietary. In this case, Uber has requested the reporting requirement apply only to public for-hire vehicles: the District's approximately 7,000 metered taxicabs.</blockquote>
<p>Want to phone in a reservation or hail an Uber? You're out of luck unless you have a smartphone with the app or can acces their website. Want to pay with cash? Sorry, Uber is credit card only.</p>
<h3 id="dishonest-business-practices">Dishonest business practices</h3>
<p>Lyft, an Uber competitor, received <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/11/technology/uber-fake-ride-requests-lyft/">5500 canceled ride requests from Uber employees</a> between October 2013 and August 2014. This hurts Lyft by tying up their drivers leaving them less available to take actual customer requests, and it also hurts the income of Lyft drivers.</p>
<h3 id="predatory-loans">Predatory Loans</h3>
<p>Uber has been encouraging and offering drivers <a href="http://valleywag.gawker.com/uber-and-its-shady-partners-are-pushing-drivers-into-su-1649936785">sub-prime auto loans for new vehicles</a>. They are specifically targeting those with no credit or poor credit and claiming that they can guarantee income, when they have a history of lowering their rates (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/09/22/uber-now-taking-its-biggest-uberx-commission-ever-25-percent/">or raising commissions</a>) in a way that <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/johanabhuiyan/uber-drivers-protest-in-sf-and-la-while-drivers-in-ny-and-lo">hurts drivers</a>.</p>
<blockquote>“UberX is said to include a 20% tip,” an UberX driver and speaker yelled to the crowd. “Uber is charging a commission on those tips, this is tip theft. That’s illegal. Uber black cars are not even allowed to accept tips. We’re service workers, we work on tips. Uber kept prices artificially low by asking drivers not to tip.”</blockquote>
<h3 id="privacy-issues">Privacy issues</h3>
<p>Take for a second and imagine all the data Uber has about their customers travel habits. Of course you would assume they take security vary seriously. But a job candidate at Uber said that he was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-reportedly-gave-an-interview-candidate-access-to-the-companys-rider-database-2014-12">given access to their customer databse</a> as if he were an employee:</p>
<blockquote>He got the kind of access enjoyed by actual employees for an entire day, even for several hours after the job interview ended. He happily crawled through the database looking up the records of people he knew — including a family member of a prominent politician — before the seemingly magical power disappeared. "What an Uber employee would have is everything, complete," said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the company.</blockquote>
<p>They've also been known to <a href="https://medium.com/@petersimsie/can-we-trust-uber-c0e793deda36">broadcast live information about their customers</a> on screens at a launch party in another city, without the user's permission.</p>
<h3 id="safety-issues">Safety issues</h3>
<p>Good luck sorting out liability issues with a comapny that claims it isn't even in the tranportation business. Uber spokesperson Taylor Bennet said of their drivers:</p>
<blockquote>"They're independent contractors," he said. "We don't hire drivers. We're a technology company. We provide the app that they use, that connects passengers with drivers. They have the flexibility of being their own boss."</blockquote>
<p>There <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/03/uber-limo-driver-alleged-rape-sexual-assault-uber-customer-dc-not-charged/">are</a> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uber-driver-arrested-san-francisco-20140604-story.html">numerous</a> <a href="http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Uber-Driver-Arrested-Kidnap-With-Sexual-Intent-Charge-261730151.html">cases</a> of <a href="http://recode.net/2014/09/27/uber-takes-another-hit-with-hammer-attack-incident/">assault</a> by Uber drivers. One of those cases even invovled a convicted felon that somehow <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/06/03/uber-driver-with-felony-conviction-charged-with-battery-for-allegedly-hitting-passenger/">passed Uber's "zero-tolerance" background check</a>.</p>
<h3 id="sexist-company-culture">Sexist company culture</h3>
<p>Last but not least, this is a company that has a persistent culture of sexism. CEO Travis Kalanick has been known to make a <a href="http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201403/uber-cab-confessions?currentPage=1">wisecrack about having women on demand</a>:</p>
<blockquote>Yeah, we call that Boob-er.</blockquote>
<p>With that kind of leadership it's not hard to imagine how they came to <a href="http://boingboing.net/2014/11/19/uber-can-track-your-one-night.html">publish a blog article</a> (since deleted - <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140828024924/http://blog.uber.com/ridesofglory">archive</a>) claiming that they could identify which of their customers participate in one night stands (so called "rides of glory").</p>
<h3 id="all-around-scuminess">All around scuminess</h3>
<p>A few weeks ago a story broke that at a private dinner that Uber hosted for journalists, executive Emil Michael suggested that the company should <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/uber-executive-suggests-digging-up-dirt-on-journalists">consider a smear campaign against journalists</a> that aren't favorable to the company, particularly focusing on personal lives and families.</p>
<p>There were several attempts to refute this story by other journalists and friends of Uber executives, but even those fail to address a bigger issue, why was Uber hosting a private dinner for journalists in the first place? And if some of the other invited journalists come to Uber's defense, is that really a surprise?</p>
<p>Even if it was an off the record joke, it is still in exceptionally poor taste, especially in the presence of other journalists. However given Uber's track record on other issues, this story doesn't seem particurlaly disbelievable or far fetched.</p>
<h1 id="godspeed-portland">Godspeed, Portland</h1>
<p>For along time I hoped that our city wouldn't be bullied by Uber, but here in Portland, they started operating <a href="http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/511920">without approval of the city</a>. The city of Portland has already started targeted enforcement efforts trying to catch folks and today announced that it is <a href="http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/511920">suing Uber</a> for "operating illegal, unregulated transportation service."</p>
<p>I never thought I'd say this when I first heard of Uber, but I hope if anyone can do it, that Portland can stand up to Uber.</p>
Meet Mr. Cellophanehttp://mikeyp.net/mr-cellophane-the-web-developer/2013-06-11T00:00:00+00:002022-07-22T00:56:18+00:00Michael Prasuhn<blockquote>
<p>When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.</p>
<br />
<p><small>— Godfellas (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfellas">Futurama episode</a>)</small></p></blockquote>
<p>Long before I turned my hobby of software development into a career, I spent my days (and often nights and weekends) as a professional audio engineer. I wasn’t much of one for rock-n-roll shows, instead enjoying the challenges of corporate meetings, parties and other special events. A routine moment might find me turning knobs and pushing faders at a celebrity wedding, an awards show, a high school commencement, or even a large conferences in a hotel or arena with anywhere from 50 to 15,000 people in attendance for their big event.</p>
<p>The feeling of power and responsibility that comes with that used to overwhelm me. Would the microphones get turned on at the right time? What if the band is too loud? Too quiet? What if there’s feedback during the emotional speech at a wedding? While that feeling faded with experience, it never fully went away.</p>
<p>As it faded I had more time for contemplation: What was it that I was really striving for? I found myself wondering what it meant to actually do the job well, instead of just trying to not screw up. You might think I’d look forward to compliments as folks left, or thankful remarks for the good job I’d done, but you’d be wrong.</p>
<p>As a conspicuous person, usually near the door that everyone walks out as they leave the venue, my number one goal became to do my job in such a way that people never even noticed me or thought about me at all.</p>
<p>I think that’s really what the essence of good web development (or design) comes down to: doing your job as best as possible to make the user experience flow as naturally as possible. Can your users sit down to your app and get started without watching a video, or jumping back and forth between documentation? Is it possible to design something so intuitive that even an in-app tour is rendered unnecessary?</p>
<p>Sure there will always be exceptions to that ideal, but I think that should be the question that developers and designers should be asking, rather than worrying, “how can I wow my user with extra animations,” or even worse, “what can I do that will show off my skills?”</p>
<p>Instead I think it’s time to to start building things with the attitude that serves the customer first and above all – something that we all care about, but struggle to do when our egos get in the way. So, what can you do to be more invisible?</p>
On Writinghttp://mikeyp.net/on-writing/2013-01-29T00:00:00+00:002022-07-22T00:56:18+00:00Michael Prasuhn<blockquote><p>If I’d had more time, I’d have written a shorter post.</p></blockquote>
<p>Most of my life, I’ve only written when required. High school English class, college essays, etc. As a consequence writing always felt like a struggle to fill some pointless quota. More words, more sentences, more whatever, but only because I have to.</p>
<p>I don’t know when the switch flipped, but I have suddenly realized that my new struggle is to write less. Convey my thoughts, ideas, the important bits, with fewer words, less is more. <strong>And it’s hard.</strong></p>
<p>I can’t help but wonder if all those years of writing to fill space has done some sort of damage that will take time to be undone.</p>
<p>Time will tell.</p>
New blog, old archivehttp://mikeyp.net/new-blog-old-archive/2013-01-05T00:00:00+00:002022-07-22T00:56:18+00:00Michael Prasuhn<p>New blog, old archive</p>
<p>Decided to do something new here.</p>
<p>Old posts are at <a href="http://old.mikeyp.net">http://old.mikeyp.net</a>.</p>