Uber, Airbnb Lead the Way as Sharing Economy Expands (emarketer.com) 37
As trust and familiarity with sharing economy services continues to grow, so too will the number of users, estimates marketing research firm eMarketer. From the article: Over a quarter (26.0%) of US adult internet users -- or 56.5 million people -- will use a sharing economy service at least once in 2017. This is a higher figure than previously projected due to stronger-than-expected uptake of both ride- and home-sharing services. This year, 16.9% of US adult internet users are expected to use their Airbnb account at least once, equating to 36.8 million people.
Sharing? Sharing what? (Score:1)
Last I checked, it was payment for goods and services rendered.
Re: Sharing? Sharing what? (Score:1)
Sharing your mom of course.
uber is not "sharing" (Score:4, Insightful)
they don't share anything.
their drivers aren't "sharing" their ride. they're GIVING YOU ONE... for a price. like a taxi, but without all those pesky regulations and extra costs getting in the way.
carpools are ride sharing.
slugging [wikipedia.org] is ride sharing.
dial-a-rides are ride sharing.
uber is not.
The Rental Economy? (Score:1)
By reading this comment you agree to pay a $49.95 fee (with a 60% "share" going straight to our slashdot overlords)
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Good Job! (Score:1, Offtopic)
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You're the type of person Orwell warned about.
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"We are all the type of person Orwell warned about, each and every one. That is his genius, and our tragedy."
--
Oscar Wilde, King Henry VII Part II.
Can we PLEASE stop calling it "sharing"?! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not sharing. It's plain old commercial rental of homes, rental of tools, pre-booked taxi rides, etc. Everything nowadays is called "sharing", recently here a "bike sharing" company came, offering lots of bicycles for rent. Not so long ago this would simply be called "bike rental", as that's really what it is.
AirBnB is not a "home sharing" company, it's a private short-term rentals broker. Uber and Lyft are not "ride sharing" companies, they're taxi service brokers. And so on.
Uber iirc started off on the premise "you're going from A to B, have empty seats in your car, why not fill them up and have the passengers share your cost". That's ride sharing. Very soon though it became people requesting rides from A to B, and then the driver going to A to pick up the passenger, then drive to B, even though the driver has no other reason to go to either A or B. That's when it became a taxi service.
AirBnB never even had such a "sharing" stage, that was designed to enable commercial short-term rentals by individuals of single apartments from the get-go.
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I actually use Napster - the current one, music subscription service. It is not that bad, but could be far better with better software.
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I don't know about your city, but in many cities I would use "sharing" for the "bike sharing" systems. Most of them are operated as 501c3 nonprofits, and the fees for usage are super low. In Minnesota for example, their bike ride system is 60/year for unlimited rides, which is just a little bit below the cost of a new tire for one of my bikes.
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This "bike sharing" is purely commercial here (Hong Kong). Mainland company that is expanding across the border. Several of such companies are active with varying success in the mainland, all using stationless systems so no dependency on a government providing space (which the HK government won't).
I used Uber last week (Score:2)
doesn't mean I'm getting rid of my car. I just needed a ride to the airport and Uber is better than NYC taxis
Use is plateauing out (Score:3)
If you look at the fist graph the rate of increase is dropping. I doubt it will ever break 45 %. If you have invested in in these brokerage services (it's NOT sharing) it may be time to divest.
Not SHARING economy! (Score:5, Insightful)
Tool libraries and open use maker spaces: sharing economy
Traditional libraries: sharing economy
CopyLeft media, designs etc.: sharing economy
Open/Free software: sharing economy
Commercial taxi services with a phone app: Not SHARING
Short term home rental: Not SHARING
For crying out loud, the criteria is RIGHT there in the FREAKING NAME!
sharing economy = broke ass mofos (Score:2)
We join the sharing economy because our jobs don't pay us enough to get ahead. We're contractors, selling off our privacy for modest financial gain. This sucks.
"Sharing economy" = Free labor (Score:2)
This is not the sharing economy (Score:2)
This is the "let's ignore the law and use VC money to litigate until we're big enough for an IPO and cash out" economy.