RPLong

It is surprising to see people protesting the "working conditions" of rideshare. I thought the whole point of ridesharing was that it is not a taxi service.

> If the labor market is so robust why aren't people joining the workforce?

Because they don't need to work. They're not applying for unemployment and they're not taking jobs. So, logically, they're using their time on non-work-related activity. They're having fun, or otherwise doing stuff that they would rather do than work.

The media has this terrible tendency to promote work as the primary marker of life success, which is a valid opinion, for sure, but it's not a universal one. Some people step out of the workforce because they can, and good for them. I expect the wealthier our society becomes, the more people will have this opportunity.

right-click, open in incognito window...

That is such a wise and important point. I am no fan of Apple, but the one thing they have going for them is that they have never forgotten how to please their core fan base.

I was such big Google fan that they actually featured me on their blog over a decade ago. They have destroyed everything that I ever liked about them, piece-by-piece and replaced it with advertising, the scourge of humanity.

This comment makes it sound as if you don't think generating massive amounts of goodwill among your most passionate customer base "drives business." Google Reader was the loss leader that drove me deeply into Google's whole suite of applications and made me a paying customer of theirs.

Always a smart move.

Never mind that. How about the effects of noise pollution on the human populations?

>> 'They have the "best" app in the sector, but only because they have essentially the only sports social network out there.'

You could almost say this about any successful app. Facebook is by no means the best at any of the things they do, but they're the site that has the highest adoption rates, so it is what it is.

For whatever reason, people prefer Strava over the alternatives, and so they get to be the best as long as people don't go elsewhere.

Personally, I use Garmin Connect and Strava both, each for different reasons, and it really rounds out my data and social network needs.

I see this as win-win for both companies. I never would have heard of Footpath if not for this news story. A good percentage of readers will now download Footpath and give it a try. That's an audience they wouldn't have had otherwise, and the lifetime revenue stream of a lift like that can be in the thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the size of Footpath's user base and their ability to monetize the traffic.

Meanwhile, us Strava users get a cool new functionality.

The problem is mostly one of data availability. China has plenty of data, but not all of it is credulous. That, and the fact that comparisons of any two nations will always be susceptible to the accusation that the data has been "cherry-picked" to show a favorable result.

But the global data on poverty is basically unassailable. Poverty has declined absolutely everywhere. The rising tide lifted at least the very poorest boats, whatever can be said for the American middle class notwithstanding.

I have thought that for a long time, too. It's natural that, on a global scale, developed-economy wages would appear to "stagnate" if developing-economy wages are increasing while competing for the same jobs.

Interesting point. Thanks for sharing.