Online discussion questions – Nov 14
- How does Uber’s pricing work? How different is it from pricing of traditional taxicabs?
- What would be reasons for city governments to ban AirBnb or Uber? How would you counter them?
- What would be reasons for online education to be valuable to education providers or students?
- Why are technologies of FreshDirect sophisticated and state-of-the-art?
What would be reasons for online education to be valuable to education providers or students?
– Students who are very busy with work or life can learn on their own schedule. Some may not be able to get to class for various reasons, so online resources would allow them the opportunity to learn the same material as students in the classroom. It can also be used as supplemental material. For example, we learned some of the ROI homework for this class in the classroom, but there was additional video content for making the data tables.
I think that some governments would probably try to ban services like Uber and BnB for 2 reasons. One reason is that they are very difficult to regulate because anyone can be an uber driver or rent out their apartment on AirBnB. Another reason is that these sharing services might compete with and damage local businesses. I would argue that although these things might be true, people should be free to do what they want their property as long as they aren’t hurting anyone.
Online education is beneficial because it is very flexible. No one has to spend time or money going somewhere to meet for a class and in many cases classes can be done at the pace of student so they don’t have to worry as much about basing their schedule around their classes. Online education could also keep costs down as there is no need to own a psychical meeting place.
Uber pricing is different from traditonal taxi pricing because Uber charges a base price that goes by mile in additon to the time of the trip (whether they are moving or not). Taxi drivers on the other hand charge one base rate and then another rate for time idling (not moving). This means that while an uber rate may seem lower, it can often cost much more for a trip that has many stops throughout it.
I think that governments would try to ban services like Uber or Air BnB because they are cutting into traditional revenues streams of the average worker such as a cab driver or motel owner. These are professions that can be regulated by the government through taxes and restrictions on operation. However, uber and Air BnB are difficult to regulate because anyone could become a worker for the company. The cost for these uber or airbnb can often be cheaper than traditional cabs or motels as well which has caused traditional service rates to be used. I would counter them by imposing user restrictions on who can become an air bnb or uber user or I would create a partnership between the city and the companies in order to coordinate a very easy transition with regulations being imposed.
What would be reasons for online education to be valuable to education providers or students?
Online education is useful for people who do not have the time to commute to campus either because they have a family to take care of or because they have full-time jobs that would not fit the daily schedule campus students face. This is valuable to education providers because it allow colleges to target and reach those who wants higher education but can’t physically be on campus.
How does Uber’s pricing work? How different is it from pricing of traditional taxicabs?
Like cabs, Uber’s price is variable based on the distance of the ride. However, the option to tip drivers has been removed, eliminating a cost. How ever, surge costs that arise when Uber is in high demand increase the costs of rides.
What would be reasons for online education to be valuable to education providers or students?
Online education allows students to educate themselves with much less help from an instructor. This could eliminate or decrease the cost of paying educators.
How does Uber’s pricing work? How different is it from pricing of traditional taxicabs?
Uber prices by the distance of the travel that the consumer will need. In comparison to taxicabs when taxicabs charges by the amount of the time you’re in the vehicle.
What would be reasons for city governments to ban AirBnb or Uber? How would you counter them?
I believe the reasons that the governments should ban AirBnb or Uber is because it disrupts the traditional business structure where Taxi drivers are invalid because of Uber. Also hotels will fall apart if AirBnb charges a cheaper cost for the same service of providing a consumer a place to stay while traveling.
Uber pricing works by demand, when there is a high demand, the prices spike up, and when the demand is low the prices fall.
City governments would want to ban Uber and Airbnb because they will not receive as much money on taxes compare to they will from local cabs and hotels.
How does Uber’s pricing work? How different is it from pricing of traditional taxicabs?
– Uber’s pricing works by having a flat fee of $5 plus a certain amount added for every minute and mile. This is different from cabs because cabs don’t charge transparently – they have a meter however that should work but often doesn’t and cabbies can kinda just charge what they want. Cab drivers also want cash whereas Uber uses a credit/debit card and people don’t always have cash on them.
What would be reasons for city governments to ban AirBnb or Uber? How would you counter them?
– City governments don’t like AirBnB or Uber because they have a special tax on taxi cabs and hotels that AirBnb and Uber don’t currently pay. The city governments also have no way to regulate these apps easily whereas they know how to do that with cabs and hotels. I would counter that by suggesting that the governments create a tax on it. By taxing it, the governments can gain more revenue.
What would be reasons for online education to be valuable to education providers or students?
– Online education is valuable to education providers and students because it’s a lot cheaper – one teacher can teach thousands and thousands and one lecture can be recorded and replayed in multiple semesters. Because it’s a lot cheaper, it’s more accessible for students to get the education they want to have in life. It’s convenient for students because they can attend classes in different locations around the world, at whatever time is most convenient for them.
The reasons why the government can ban Air BnB and Uber is mainly because of security concerns. If there is a rise in the number of incidents of destructive behavior, like tenants stealing from the hosts house, people facing racial discrimination, passengers getting robbed/kidnapped from the Uber drivers are all a cause for concern and since it only takes the click of a button to add additional accounts on these apps, the government would consider banning them. These applications are also difficult to regulate and pose a great threat to other local businesses which is anther the government might consider banning them