Article by Domain Support
Uberification has changed the way we think of getting from point A to point B using mobile devices, but also about how we think about on demand services in general. Uber (originally called Ubercab), created in 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp has now grown to be a company worth in mid 2015 to be over $62 Billion US Dollars according to Wikipedia. Other companies have imitated Uber such as Lyft, CartoGo, Curb (Formerly Taxi Magic [2009], RideCharge [2007]), RubyRide, Shuddle, Sidecar, Didi Chuxing (formerly Didi Kuaidi, which is a merger back in 2015 between China’s two largest taxi-hailing firms: Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache), Grab ([formerly known as GrabTaxi], a ride service company that operates in Southeast Asia), Opoli, Ola and other less known ride service providers have created some fierce competition for Uber who continues to remain on top. Even Taxi Companies are battling Uber with companies like Flywheel, Summon and Hailo. “So a lot of companies want to be your driver” writes Time Magazine.
However, Uber has changed the way we think not only about on demand transportation but also in how we view
education, health care (scroll down to see the video at end of this article), economics,
transactions,
advertising,
services, on demand jobs,
food-and-package delivery businesses,
private jets, and the
uberfication of everything. You can book your private plane with your smartphone using
Blackjet as well as have someone walk your dog with
Swifto. As
inc puts it, “To appreciate the scope of Uber’s ambition, consider the name of the unit that spawned the company’s newest service: Uber Everything.” The
Wall Street Journal reports, “There’s an Uber for everything now.”
Wired reports, “Uber wants to deliver everything, not just people”
Wikipedia summarizes this by stating, “The parallel rise of platforms such as Netflix, Apple TV, and AirBnB in other industries has led to comparisons with the rise of Uber and debate over whether and to what extent uberisation may displace traditional business models.”
For example, car manufacturers have been considering uberfying their wares, such as Ford Motor Company who is experimenting with its own Uber like app and according to the
Washington Post, writes, “the ride-hailing service, and other apps like it, have made it increasingly easy in major cities to get around town without owning a car. They promise the convenience of
personal cars without the monthly car payment, the speed of car travel without the hassle of parking when you arrive.” Ford is also working on a vehicle to go with it. Ford announced that it is planning on doing this in multiple countries according to
Venture Beat. When you consider the total cost of owning a vehicle such as payments, interest, insurance, maintenance, parking, cleaning, etc., an on demand personal vehicle service makes this an attractive alternative to owning.
Silvercar is uberfied for those who prefer luxury and according to
The Atlantic, reports, “services like Silvercar, Uber, and pay-to-play airline VIP programs help keep the new aristocracy away from the rabble.”
BMW has launched
ReachNow and is currently available in Seattle and according to
engadget offers “BMW 3 Series’, i3s and Mini Coopers scattered throughout the downtown area,” and explains, “
One of the self-professed key features of the service is how quickly users can register for it — accounts are supposed to be verified within 2 minutes. Because you take photos of your credit card and drivers license, the sign up process moves quickly. And while it did take about two minutes to finish the entire process, I was verified before I even got my mailing address plugged into the app.” According to
Vox Technology, Ford and Google are creating a joint venture to develop self-driving cars [as reported in
The Verge] as well as
GM and Lyft — and take down Uber, since Uber is now
more valuable than some car manufacturers, and adds, “The future of self-driving cars is rental, not ownership.” It is reported that just about all the major car manufacturers are researching and developing self-driving cars.
The Verge says, “
GM and Lyft will work together on a series of national rental hubs where Lyft drivers can rent short-term vehicles, unlocking new ways for people to earn money without having to own a car.” Since car manufacturers see the importance of uberfying to stay alive, you can see that getting from point A to point B is going to be very competitive.
Also, when you consider that
a private vehicle usually sits parked more than being driven, more people will see the value of only using a vehicle when needed since owning a vehicle is more expensive than simply using an on demand vehicle service especially in large metropolitan areas that have competing abundant demand vehicle services vying for your business. As
Vox points out, “If cars are primarily rented, rather than owned, then they can be optimized for shorter trips and more heavily specialized for different use cases. Short-range, high-efficiency electric vehicles will become more practical. Companies may make cars in a wider variety of sizes and shapes, from hyper-efficient one-seaters to luxury minivans to support family vacations.” Self-driving cars, when they are street ready, will definitely change the way we get from point A to point B.
Uber is also working on
a self driving car. Google has been pioneering the
self driving car for some time now (actually five years). If Tesla can deliver a self-driving car (according to
re/code, CEO Elon Musk said in October that fully self-driving cars are just a few years away), you can imagine using an app on your smartphone to
order your Tesla (or whatever you want) to come pick you up. If Apple actually comes up with
building its own car, you can really imagine how that will change the way we transport ourselves. Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said in October 2015, “It would seem like there will be massive change in that industry, massive change. When I look at the automobile, what I see is that software becomes an increasingly important part of the car of the future. You see that autonomous driving becomes much more important.”
As
The Telegraph wrote, “To put this in context, consider this: Apollo 11, the spaceship that took humans to the moon, had 145,000 lines of computer code. The Large Hadron Collider has 50 million. The Android operating system has 12 million. A modern car has about 100 million lines of code. Without exception, everyone from traditional carmakers to technology companies like Apple, Google, and Uber, and specialist software makers that build the computing brains of cars, all predict that connectivity and automation is the inevitable next step for automobiles.”
The Uberfication Of Healthcare
Rock Health has the The Uberfication Of Healthcare // Health Innovation Summit:
The uberfication of everything will continue on its course. Is your business considering uberfying? Contact Connectech so we can assist you with answering any of your concerns about the uberfication of everything.
