An Interesting Parallel....

[NCspecs]

Heard a news story on the way to work this morning and it made me think.

The gist of the situation is this:

Link to story- http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...lyft-puts.html

Charlotte, NC taxi drivers are up in arms over Uber and other ride-sharing programs because the taxi drivers have to pay licensing fees yearly and have regular inspections, whereas Uber drivers do not have to pay any fees or submit to any special inspections. Taxi drivers feel like Uber has an unfair advantage because Uber isn't held to the same regulations and are under-cutting traditional taxi service business with extremely low pricing. Sound familiar?

How often do we justify taking the cheap route from A to B (literally in this case) without regard to those who take what they do seriously and put in the time, effort, and sometimes money? I found the entire situation much food for thought.

What do you think?

[erichwmack]

I agree that placing the lowest cost above all else is a recipe for failure. Cheap is effective for the short term but it will eventually self destruct. Professionalism and quality is what creates reliability, effectiveness, growth, and has staying power. For Uber its only going to take one serious accident/problem and a lawyer to rip it shreds.

It makes you contemplate the future of optometry and what should be regulated and what shouldn't.
On-line CL/glx corrective lenses
On-line refractions signed off by faceless OD's
Ipad/phone retinal photographs
OD's forbidden from Lasik and injection based treatments
etc...

[mdeimler]

So, Uber and Lyft seem to be the Zenni and WP of the transportation world...interesting find.

[Robert Martellaro]

Venture, or vulture capitalists?

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/17/your...rporate_greed/

[NCspecs]

Venture, or vulture capitalists?

Robert, this is exactly what came to mind. Throw a little progressive idealism in the mix (i.e. WP donating glasses to people in need, or Toms donating a pair of shoes for every pair you buy) and you have a captive consumer audience.

Frankly, I sympathize with the taxi drivers on this one. Why bother running an above board operation (and paying licensing fees) when a business that isn't held to the same standards as you are allowed to function freely without monitoring?

I also think that we have to be careful about getting a bug up our butt about WP and company and take a clear-eyed look at what type of businesses we patronize as individuals. Do we shop at Walmart? Do we buy our food from plastic trays in a grocery store or do we grow gardens or buy from farmer's markets? Do we line up in front of big box retailers on Thanksgiving for Black Friday? Do we practice what we preach?

[becc971]

I also think that we have to be careful about getting a bug up our butt about WP and company and take a clear-eyed look at what type of businesses we patronize as individuals. Do we shop at Walmart? Do we buy our food from plastic trays in a grocery store or do we grow gardens or buy from farmer's markets? Do we line up in front of big box retailers on Thanksgiving for Black Friday? Do we practice what we preach?

NCSpecs is right. I'm guilty of a little target shopping now and then (okay maybe i have a problem), but i try to eat local and shop local as much as possible. I have found here in Maine that its hard to find local places to get everything you need. I also think that black friday is a horrible idea and i have never participated. I would rather go hang out with my family. I had a patient once tell me that when I finally had children I wouldn't think shopping at Wal Mart was so bad, well i have some now and I find i don't save enough money to make it worth the extra time and to put up with the crappy quality and customer service. Although the people watching is top notch. Society as a whole needs to start prioritizing things, people say organic is too expensive but they have 70" televisions, "oh i can't afford glasses" but they have smart phone, internet and cable, "i can't afford to pay my bill" but they smoke $50 - $100 worth of cigarettes every week.