• maynarkh@feddit.nl
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    5 months ago

    It’s weird that this has to be explained to Americans - this is how much of Big Tech got to where they are, except they call it “disruption”.

    BTW this shows perfectly that free markets are not a be-all-end-all thing. It’s a tool, and if it produces outcomes that you don’t like, you can adjust it for better outcomes. The hypocrisy here is not that they pretend to worship the market then cry foul when China enters it on their terms, but that they do adjust it for their benefit all the time, and only pretend to worship it when people ask for their fair share.

    • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      While we’ve seen this cycle play out quite a few times in Big Tech, I think a lot of people just aren’t aware of what it is. I’ve had friends decry how, “Uber is now basically as expensive as a taxi.” I point out how Uber is only recently profitable and see people’s minds get blown.

      • hark@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Uber’s costs are because of oversized compensation packages for executives and lots of R&D put into autonomous driving. The bulk of the actual cost of operation is on the shoulders of drivers who wear down their vehicles for the sake of Uber. All Uber does is provide an app, which is laughably cheap by comparison.

    • nxdefiant@startrek.website
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      5 months ago

      Larger population means larger representation. If you say the Netherlands only has about 100,000 idiots, that’s roughly half a percent of their population.

      Half of a percent of the US population is over 1.5 million. And I promise you, we have a waaaaaaay higher percentage of idiots than that.