You forgot “cable television, but over the internet and no one has all the channels.”
So, Internet cable TV
I swear that most commenters are young people because back in the 90s-2000s, taxis and hotels were hot fucking garbage.
Taxis would go on joy rides to up the cost or refuse you if you were black.
Hotels would tell you to go suck a dick because their price listed outside is not for you, and if you want a place, they have a room with roaches near the heater.
Uber/Airbnb were gamechangers that broke that monopoly.
Unfortunately, they have gotten to shit. But you know what? Taxis and hotels have cleaned up their act. Because the moment they go to shit again, Uber/Airbnb will come in and eat their lunch.
Taxis in my country would routinely ask for extra (usually 25-30% of the total fare) or have you pay them a fixed amount that’s way higher than if only the meter was used (about 2-3x the normal fare) . There are also taxis that have meters that are way too fast. Uber was a godsend when it first came out here.
In Italy taxis are a monopoly and uber is forbidden. For a 1h ride they ask you 120-150€. Luckily by train you can do the same ride quicker and for 5-10 euro.
Uber and Airbnb DID break that monopoly but they got their competative advantage by simply breaking the laws that existing taxis and hotels were required to adhear too. Still do break those laws but weight of cash > law.
Laws that the taxi and hotel companies lobbied for to stop competition.
And also (for Airbnb at least) regular zoning laws meant to prevent subletting and the loss of affordable housing to illegal hotels.
Almost as if it’s not the commodities that are the problem, but the economy they operate. 🧐
When you call a cab it was often a game of 'will the can actually show up?"
Ah yes, I too remember the good old days of stumbling home drunk in the dark because my cab never came.
I only know taxis and hotels as normal boring things in this time range.
Calling AirBnB “a hotel chain” is an insult to hotels.
Hotels don’t require you to clean somebody else’s house while you are on vacation like a maid, and then charging you a cleaning fee for missing a spot. There isn’t even much of a price difference nowadays, so staying at a hotel wins every time.
I have two younger kids. We can very close to renting a hotel on our last in-state vacation. It would have actually been somewhat cheaper. The reason we still went for the AirBnB was because our kids are asleep by like 7:30 and we didn’t want to be ‘trapped’ in the hotel room and didn’t want to rent a second. AirBnB made it significantly easier to find a house to rent.
That said, the number of AirBnBs in that area of the state has really grown. I can’t imagine that’s doing the people who live there any favors.
It is really terrible for the housing market when real estate investors buy out homes on the market for the sole purpose of renting them out in AirBnBs.
I doubt that anyone would want to live next to an AirBnB house.
“They make for shit neighbours” not the worst of it. It also significantly contributes to the increase in cost of living in the area because buyers and renters no longer have to compete with just each other but also with investors, and every house or flat that’s off the market only increases that competition further.
Doorbell camera surveillance network
Money for criminals*
Until everybody ruined it. When people started investing instead of spending, we were fucked.
Yeah I still stand by the technology (Eth and other smart coins, not Bitcoin), but there’s just so much bullshit surrounding the tech that it makes it really unpalatable and trashy
