

Airbnb vs * - ianthiel
http://blog.ianthiel.com/airbnb-vs

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rakkhi
Is this a risk waiting to explode? I mean at some point someone will have a
IMF chief type incident at a Airbnb booked type service right? Will the
startup survive the resulting lawsuit and media flairup? I wish them all the
best but personally I would not use nor invest in this service. Think PG's
initial gut instinct was right.

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rrrazdan
I am sorry but I can't get your point. Is the hotel of the DSK incident fame,
out of business? Who would sue, who?

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rakkhi
Maybe my mis-understanding on how service works. Happy to learn:

\+ So basically I go to airbnb \+ Book a room at that someone has put up. \+
This is a private residence, where they have a air-mattress

Does air-bnb do any screening of people putting up rooms or is it purely
reputation based system? If the latter surely it is a ticking timebomb?

Say the worst case happens (touch wood it never does). Someone gets killed,
raped, kidnapped staying at a air-bnb booked place. Any civil liablity for
air-bnb? Any duty of care? Publicity fallout?

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ianthiel
I think your understanding of how the service works is spot on. There's
reputation system of sorts since you can comment on people you've stayed with.
If anyone ever got a single bad review, I imagine no one would ever stay there
again. Airbnb themselves don't do any of the screening.

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rrrazdan
There is a certain market for CouchSurfing like websites. Think imdb. These
sites are like the ghetto shops of Delhi or Cairo. Sure you can have all the
shiny showrooms, but people will still want to buy from these.

EDIT: I meant it in the context of the UI and design of the websites.

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ianthiel
This is a very fair point, I think in some cases people are primarily
interested in functionality as opposed to design.

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derrida
vs CouchSurfing, a totally free service. But there are good reasons AirBnb is
in no way threatened by CouchSurfing. For a start it is contractual, and that
matters when it comes to accommodation because people want security.

~~~
rrrazdan
People want certainty, which is what I suppose you meant. That being said, I'd
say that there is a significant market for the kind of travelers that
couchSurfing offers. You can't beat free and there is something about
travelling to a country, meeting with the locals and contributing something
back, other than money.

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creativeone
Personally I have found craigslist the best way to find non-hotel
accomidations.

