Strike that taxi from the record

in #thoughts4 years ago

Things change in this world and no matter how stable one might be, a change in technology can change consumer behavior and then, everything changes. Sometimes it might just be as simple as an app service that shakes up the status quo, like Uber, or as in Serbia, Car:go. So far while I have been here in Belgrade, the taxis have had strike periods and they are terribly hard to get at the best of times it seems. They are striking due to the apps encroaching on their industry, as if it will hold back the sea.

IMG_20191002_170907.jpg

In Finnish there is a saying that I love and it is translated as:

Do, or cry and do.

 
You can get with the program or, you can cry about having to get with he program, either way, it is going to get done.

IMG_20191002_170802.jpg

I don't know enough about this strike to pick a side, but at the end of the day, the consumers habits have already changed and even under legislation, the flood gates have been opened to services provided at the micro level with individuals becoming their own enterprise. Currently these are mostly centralized, but in time they will decentralize further and will fill gaps in the failing job markets and the top-heavy organizations.

IMG_20191002_170628.jpg

I see the same thing happening with crypto, with Steem, where the 4+ billion and growing internet users start to get introduced, get a taste of and start to adopt a world where they own and control their content, data and streams of their economy at a micro level. Less reliance on centralization for earning and management, more responsibility that comes with ownership.

IMG_20191002_170606.jpg

I think decentralization scares many who are already here as most of us have never really had to rely on ourselves, never had to manage our own processes at a granular level and instead have had all kinds of support mechanisms. While we pick up convenience and outsourced competence, we lost our skills to learn and support ourselves.

IMG_20191002_170728.jpg

Here on Steem content creators are screaming to be discovered by the curation search parties, yet much fewer go out to make some noise in the sea of voices all looking for attention. Attention economies demand a bi-directional flow of communication and supply generally follows demand. Once a new service is introduced, the early adopters test the concept while many others fear change or, cry about the changes that are to come yet, they will all end up doing.

IMG_20191002_170834.jpg

I find that the early adopter advantage only has value when the behaviors change as the evolution of concepts continue and, this requires paying attention to the changes happening and staying ahead of the game. this is difficult in a centralized environment that is successful from performing a certain way, much easier in a decentralized environment that has all competing in a supply and demand economy, all looking for attention, all able to act in their own best interests by providing service for consumers.

IMG_20191002_170436.jpg

The EIP was a god example of this where prior, the bidbots were able to provide the best returns for maximizers on the platform, and like it or not, many users took return over health - as consumers usually do. Convenience and outsourced competence. The problem is that once the environment shifted, those who were unable to adapt, those who never built their network and skills suffered at the hands of change. And it doesn't matter if they have had 2+ years of gains and benefit, all people feel is the immediate suffering.

IMG_20191002_170524.jpg

It doesn't matter if the situation has improved for users, it doesn't matter if there are much better chances of future gains, it is the pain in the now that takes the focus and raises the question, why should I change what is working for me? But, the changes were made in a supply and demand economy of attention so that the environment can work for others. The new technology changed the behaviors of the community, the consumer, the investor and at the end of the day, agree or not, all things connected change to come into alignment.

IMG_20191002_170401.jpg

While the taxi drivers complain about the ride applications, it won't be long until drivers are replaced by the next wave of services that will make all of them obsolete. I think that people are yet to actually understand how far Blockchain and tokenization will penetrate into our lives and behaviors and with each innovation and use case, more will arrive on their shoulders.

Adopt, adapt and get ready to adopt again.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

These images were taken out of my morning and afternoon taxis. From what I have heard, all their strike seems to have done is drive more people to try the drive applications for the first time.


Onboarding

Sort:  

Congratulations @tarazkp! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You received more than 370000 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 380000 upvotes.

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!

In theory, the “commission” Uber gets is 20% or 25% depending on the date you became a “partner”, or as it’s called in the real world, “employee”. That’s the figure that Uber uses to sucker in new drivers and deceive them into thinking they’ll be making around $30 an hour, for just kicking back and driving a car around and picking people up. But, they always fail to mention all these little costs that Uber gets per ride from each passenger, as well as driver, in addition to their “commission”. Uber charges a “service fee”, a “booking fee” and any other charges they can get away with to fleece their passenger and drivers. Source

Ride-sharing apps might not be the "best" example of "decentralization".

No, as I think I mentioned, they are centralized, however the change in mindset of both driver and consumer is leading to further steps away from the centralized points, it just takes time and likely a few more innovations in tech and another economic crash or two to drive consumer behavior in a different direction again.

Currently these are mostly centralized, but in time they will decentralize further and will fill gaps in the failing job markets and the top-heavy organizations.

Ok, I must have glossed over that.

So it feels like you're suggesting, "decentralization is inevitable, just like it is inevitable that ride-sharing apps will replace taxis".

But if you compare taxis and ride-sharing apps, ride-sharing apps are MORE centralized than taxis.

For example, there are thousands of individual regional taxi companies around the world as well as thousands of (heavily invested) individual owner-operators.

And on the other hand, there are only a handful (3?) of ride-sharing companies driving them out-of-business.

This is the pattern of history, regional warlords (organizations/businesses) compete and the more powerful ones take over more territory until they have a de facto monopoly.

It's actually a very rare anomaly when a power monopoly gets fractionalized.

Inevitability seems to favor CENTRALIZATION.

Inevitability seems to favor CENTRALIZATION.

putting it in bold, doesn't make it true :)

For the first time in the history of humanity, there is the possibility that ordinary people are able to communicate, collaborate and organize themselves at scale. Centralization might be the default, but it doesn't have to be centralization of the organization, it can be centralization of the entire community, and all the nuance and variation it contains.

I see it as more of an alignment problem up until this point and going forward, we will increasingly have access to tools that have never existed before. Using the past to predict that the future will be identical uses the assumption that nothing has changed in the environment and, everything changes.

Well, I certainly hope you're right, but, well...

Free access to data (like steemit) seems to be a goldmine for AI propaganda machines and more specifically, for their OWNERS,

Demand different, get a different supply.

hope it did not ruin your experience to much.

short story, taxies claim that cargo is doing something against the law and that the drivers are not professional and safe, cargo claims taxi lobi pushed so law would be made... not a great situation for people trying to get somewhere, especially because public transportation mostly sucks.

And you are right that they are not thinking that all of them will be obsolete in future, but it is serbia, and you seen the traffic and organisation so it will be in next xy years.

I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and it cost 3500 Dinar, meaning I paid 2500 dinar over the actual price. That is from a legislated taxi. :D

but it is serbia, and you seen the traffic and organisation so it will be in next xy years.

I was just saying to my clients at dinner (in skardanska which was the best meal I have had for a very long time), that while a confident and competent enough driver, I wouldn't want to driver here.

airport taxis, yap :D

i thought you will like the food here.

every time i need to go to belgrade it is a stressful driving day. i just drove 1100 km from greece and skipped belgrade and drove 100km more to Novi Sad to leave a friend at a bus station there instead of in Belgrade. I had to go 100km back home but it was easier than driving through whole belgrade :D

The roads are for the insane here and I am surprised that any cars have corners left at all.
The food was brilliant tonight. I had a meat dish that was made under a lid with ashes over the top to slow cook it. Brilliant. Also had a shot of plum rakia. Good times.

I would skip Belgrade traffic too if I had the option.

I must not be loud enough, but then again, it was all a matter of time. I think that as the behaviors of individuals mature, with increasing levels of skill, we'll find new habits form among the people. It seems that everyone finds it simple enough to use phone photography for most cases, but once it proves that more refined digital work is necessary, perhaps people will face the music. I am happy to say that this platform has given me much more than financial return or digital stake, and for that I return regularly to strut my stuff. I'm happy more eyes can feel the realness.

It seems that everyone finds it simple enough to use phone photography for most cases, but once it proves that more refined digital work is necessary, perhaps people will face the music

This is something that I think will happen too. Although, I have been using phone a fair bit while travelling, but photography is not generally the core of my post, it is a support for the words.

It is a nice place to strut or at least, practice strutting I think.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70733.96
ETH 3563.16
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.76