FERIAL HAFFAJEE: Uber, Netflix, love and taxes
There's lots of consumer value in Uber but very little national value as profits go to a US tech giant
I love Uber. And my credit card statements show just how much. As a woman who likes getting about in a beautiful, big but bad city, it has been liberating for me. Going out at night is no longer a thing to be so carefully orchestrated to avoid the bad that it takes the fun out of a night on the town. I hit my app, press Uber Black and catch a comfortable and safe ride there and back. Because Uber places an age range on the cars that get onto its platform, it's safe - and the app has a responsive system of reporting and grading both drivers and riders. To be honest, I stopped cab-hailing years ago because metered taxis were more often skedonks (wrecks) or so expensive that it made no sense with my car parked at home. And the system of calling to get a cab now just seems as outmoded and inconvenient as fax machines or VHS machines. I felt a momentary "Ag shame" in a metered taxi recently after I caught a Gautrain from the airport and realised why these old men of the industry had turn...
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