Tech's broken $$$ promises: Streaming, Uber, cloud

[rcjordan]

Tech's broken promises: Streaming is now just as expensive and confusing as cable. Ubers cost as much as taxis. And the cloud is no longer cheap.

https://old.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1emwtks/techs_broken_promises_streaming_is_now_just_as/

[ergophobe]

>> Uber

But we *knew* that a company that was setting $1b/mo on fire would have to get more expensive. The question was whether adding a middleman was going to be more expensive than restricting supply (i.e. with medallion systems) or whether the dream of eliminating drivers entirely by 2022 was going to happen (we know the answer to the second one).

To some extent, these platforms got expensive because people wanted a higher level of product and service. Couple that with companies running out of VC money to set on fire and the frontline providers learning to do math and this was inevitable.

The math problem was always a lot of it and it still exists.

I heard an interview with a guy who thought that the long-haul business where people deliver stuff with a heavy duty pickup and a fifth-wheel trailer was ripe for the picking after some frustrating experience with bad deliveries and way overdue deliveries. But then he ran the numbers and interviewed people in the business and realized that almost all of them were working based on covering partial operating expenses  and no capital expenses. Without realizing they were burning through a major asset ($80,000 truck) and not counting any long-term maintenance. His conclusion was that it was an industry impossible to enter because almost everyone there was operating at a loss, they just hadn't figured that out yet.

>> Streaming

I think if you don't want the entire univers of offerings, it is still a lot cheaper than satellite TV. We had the bottom bottom bottom end satellite for the rental and I think it was something like $84 by the time I told them I didn't care what deal they offered me when I called *this* time, I was done. I figured I could have Netflix, Disney+Hulu and Paramount and save $30/month and that is a veritable firehose of programming. Yes, it's not everything, but who really needs to have another 8,562 choices when you turn on the TV?

>> Cloud

That depends, I think. For a small company, offloading IT is still probably cheap compared to having an IT department. As you grow in size, DIY might make more sense (like with insurance, for example)