
The Uber Game: Can you make it in the gig economy? - chrisaycock
https://ig.ft.com/uber-game/
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iandanforth
It really annoyed me that the game forced me to make errors. I don't oversleep
and I have a generous dataplan that doesn't force me to buy "unlimited." I
also didn't get a choice to stay in Sac. The feeling of "this is hard" was
lost and was replaced by "this is not a useful demonstration."

~~~
alaskamiller
Whether intentionally or unintentionally you're demonstrating the concept of
privilege that some people are making efforts to point out.

You want to play the game that you want because you believe yourself to be a
rational, intelligent, logical person.

You believe you can win the game.

You don't oversleep, you have a generous data plan.

You can choose.

And you're complaining that the game isn't useful because it doesn't fully
allow you to choose.

The type of person that drives for Uber and Lyft in real life don't have the
privilege to choose. They are driving for Uber and Lyft.

That's why it's hard.

You may have worked hard to be where you are, you have done it from a kid
squatting on the ground to poop in a third world country to being the top
earner at a tech company, all by yourself. That's great, that's rare, you
deserve whatever accolades you choose to laud yourself with.

Or maybe it's not that dramatic of a distance. Maybe you're a middle-income
family that could work to afford college education and you studied and worked
hard to afford good sleep and generous data plans.

That initial position is still much better in the distribution model of modern
society than many others that can never leave their situation.

What do you choose to do about it?

~~~
dasil003
I'm sympathetic to arguments from those pointing out my personal privilege and
how it doesn't apply to them. But I take issue with the infantilization of
lower middle-class people. Not oversleeping or calculating how much data
you're using is not a privilege issue, these things are knowable and
predictable. It's offensive to all the working class people who do manage
their time and finances to keep their head above water to suggest otherwise.

~~~
patrickg_zill
That is really an excellent point... I stopped by an automobile repair shop
and they were discussing how to best schedule my repairs given the
constraints. Yet they are all blue collar workers, but are in fact very
responsible.

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didgeoridoo
Ha. Now try it with old-school cabs: “Your passenger opens your door into a
lamppost, denting it. You don’t have the cash to get it repaired. When you
return your cab, your Armenian mobster boss notices it and breaks your
kneecaps.”

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djrogers
I’m not quite sure Uber ever intended for their drivers to be able to own
$900,000 homes (that’s about what a $4k mortgage would get you with 20% down).
To me that smacks of a very rigged game with some sort of agenda behind it.

~~~
FLUX-YOU
>To me that smacks of a very rigged game with some sort of agenda behind it.

Total bills would have been much more appropriate, unless Uber drivers
themselves are reporting $4k/mo mortgages, in which case loan approvals need
some serious regulation.

Regardless, this game is about someone on the edge of financial failure. The
only option is selling the house and hoping for some profit to pay for
relocation.

~~~
AVTizzle
>>Loan approvals need some serious regulation

There's probably other recent evidence to support this idea...

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filereaper
I scored around $1016 after costs were removed. I don't think a $1000/week
mortgage is reasonable, if you're an Uber driver on those costs, you need to
rethink your entire life.

That being said, if mortgage was actually $1000/month and I still have 3 other
weeks, being an Uber driver is suddently not so bad.

~~~
untog
> if you're an Uber driver on those costs, you need to rethink your entire
> life.

...I think that's kind of the point. But don't spend too long rethinking your
life, because you need to earn money! _And_ somehow improve your life in your
spare time.

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TamDenholm
An interesting "game", i failed but i knew it was rigged from the start, kind
of like uber i guess, which i'm sure is the point they're trying to make.

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mnm1
Cool game. In conclusion, I'd be better off making minimum wage at McDonald's
or similar. Same pay, less risk. Either way my house is going to be
repossessed by the bank so I'm fucked.

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BrentOzar
If taxi companies produced marketing material like this and promoted it in
cities where they wanted to fight off Uber, they’d probably have a much easier
time.

That was entertaining and sickening all at once.

~~~
fiatjaf
Is anyone besides people from HN playing that game?

~~~
untog
It's in the Financial Times, a major UK newspaper. So I'd wager, yes.

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harry8
"the gig economy" What an awful name to normalise workers with no job working
very hard for less than minimum wage.

Corporate masters - be more flexible for us, we'll pay you less too. FT, WSJ
etc. "Gig economy, sounds like rock bands! Awesome."

I'm in no way a socialist but FFS, "gig economy?" Seriously?

~~~
tomc1985
I agree but when I look around at the nontechnical world (at least from my
vantage point of artists and hippies) this is exactly what it has become. When
you can't find work other than what you don't like, a lot seem to choose
becoming an Uber/Lyft driver.

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cm2012
I got annoyed becaused it forced me to go to SF every day after the first one.
What was the point of giving me a choice on day 1? I made more money in my
hometown.

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fiatjaf
Well, wasn't the whole idea of Uber and the "gig economy" to not have
professional drivers, but just people doing it in their spare time _if they
already have the means to_?

~~~
Fomite
It obviously stopped being that in many markets really quickly.

But then, when it comes down to it, the "gig economy" was just SF speak for "A
shitty part-time job."

~~~
kazinator
Well, using "gig" to denote a job is ironically self-deprecating to begin
with, since it is jazz musicians' slang for a relatively cool and exciting
temporary engagement: a musical performance somewhere. Whereas in the ironic
context, it refers to some mundane job.

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CamelCaseName
That was a pretty tough game, I only beat out 17% of players. Loved the
aesthetics too.

I think it did a good job of putting me in the driver's seat, forcing me to
make some tough decisions.

But what happens after week 1? Do you go right back into the grind and work 7
days a week, 52 weeks a year? Brutal.

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CodeWriter23
Pretty sure the earnings awarded by the game are overly optimistic, and
certainly didn’t include Uber fees. Based on trying to earn a living between
gigs driving for Uber in LA. Also, expenses are higher than just fuel and
incidental damage.

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rocketperson7
As a Lyft driver, I can confirm that this is way too real

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NTDF9
The reality of today's gig economy is that everyone is living on the brink of
a failure.

One major disaster (healthcare, job loss, natural disasters, recession,
divorce) is all it takes for this American dream to turn into a nightmare.

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yellowapple
"You are deactivated for 4 hours. You use that time to buy a phone mount and
charging cables for $25 and make your way to San Francisco."

Pardon? I picked Sacramento for a reason, buddy.

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fiatjaf
How is it worse having the option of being an Uber driver versus not having
that option?

~~~
travisjungroth
Because Uber leads people into thinking they'll make good money. It's like
asking whether it's worse to have the option of being scammed or not having
that option.

~~~
fiatjaf
Ok, you have a point.

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foolproofplan
a $1000 mortgage payment? where can i find that in the bay?

~~~
sjf
I think they mean $1000/week, which makes more sense considering the character
has two children. But who would get approved for a $4.3k/month mortgage on a
single earner getting paid less than minimum wage?

~~~
sidlls
Somebody who loses his or her job after having got the mortgage could be in
this situation.

