Industries under threat?

[Fuzz]

Walmart probably hires people to dress up like weirdos to get you into their stores.

[aushy]

So not only was he operating an illegal transport operation, he was also distributing alcohol without a license.

It's illegal to consume alcohol while on public transport, specifically in this case a taxi.

You might say that he wasn't selling the beer but he is also working out of a what do they call it, A RIDE SHARE APP.

Wouldn't this also mean that the ride should be free?

Can't you see that this is the problem. You have a highly regulated industry trying to compete against a totally unregulated industry that seems to be a law unto itself. Yes I agree that the taxi industry is over priced and has a reputation for bad service. I think a lot of this has come about because of the high price of running a taxi service. They cut corners when it comes to training drivers and tend to employ a lot of people who perhaps don't know to get from A to B like they did in times gone by.

You either cut the high costs on the taxi industry or you impose similar costs on uber. At the moment uber are not paying their way here. If I understand correctly they pay no taxes for operating in Australia and I'm not sure if their drivers are paying tax either.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm happy to learn.

I understand where you're coming from, but it's not a simple task to level the playing field. Uber won't pay the high costs associated with a taxi licence, and why would they when they can continue operating as they do. The only way would be to drastically cut the costs of getting a taxi license, however the license owners are against this because there goes their investment. It's a difficult transition period but sooner or later the license owners need to cut their losses and accept that the industry will soon undergo drastic changes in which they will lose out. I think Uber drivers 'should' be paying income tax on what they earn, but they need to declare it themselves. All payments are electronic, so no easy way of escaping this. However I don't believe that any GST is being paid to the goverment by Uber.

[Duxnutz]

Walmart probably hires people to dress up like weirdos to get you into their stores.

I'm a weirdo and I used to love Walmart.

[brschoppe]

I work in higher education (local college). It hasn't had a significant impact on how business has been done <yet> but that's changing and it's changing faster than the organizations can keep up. More online/flexible delivery of education is going to be key in the coming years.

No offense to you, but with the rising cost of higher education, cheaper alternatives will need to be found. Labor is only part of that. I look at some of the lavish facilities that universities have built. There is a lot of up-keep on those facilities. I see that getting cut back.

[brschoppe]

It looks like after Uber, they want to automate truck driving... http://www.engadget.com/2015/05/05/daimler-autonomous-truck-nevada/

Uber could take on a whole new industry in the future. Even if you live in a rural area in the future, would it be necessary to own a vehicle if there were autonomous vehicles? If you could just go on your phone and summon a vehicle. That would end car dealerships and repair shops as the vehicle would be own and maintained by the "Taxi" companies.

One industry that I thought was dead, but I am really surprised some still exists is video stores. I have actually seen a few Family Video stores being built around the Chicagoland area in the last couple years. I know my kids love going to library and actually being able to physically pick something out.