fancyketchup

> Well done. Really, what would it take to get you to re-phrase your comment into something like:

> "Forgive me for asking because I don't understand how these situations came to pass in the first place?"

To be honest, I don't think anything would.

Simply stated, I have met too many people (friends, family and coworkers) who tell me well-crafted stories about how they came to be in a car accident, or almost-accident. These stories invariably cast the teller as the victim who could do nothing to prevent the accident (aside from driving more slowly or following at a greater distance). When I later ride with them, I find that they tailgate, speed and roll through stop signs.

Perhaps I was too quick to judge. Maybe you're among the 1% of 'attentive drivers' who actually drive well. I'm just so tired of hearing the excuses of the other 99% that I lumped you in with them.

If you really are that 1%, then I have to say I'm truly am sorry. I hope you are. Because if you aren't, you're probably feeling smug about putting me in my place and will feel justified in driving recklessly in the future.

That's why you don't drive 100 mph, mm away from a line of stopped/stopped cars or next to a crowded street corner.

Your examples are ones of exactly the type of behavior insurance companies are trying to disincentivize. Namely, fail-deadly behavior that puts you in a position where you have to be attentive to avoid a collision when other actors don't do exactly as they should. Your error was putting yourself in that position in the first place.

Negative earnings, maybe? Usually P/E ratios for those companies are reported as N/A, though.

Huh. I haven't ever run into that, and I've been using uber twice a week for more than a year. Maybe it just comes down to which city you're in?

> Are U&L still ignoring rules designed to provide access to those with disabilities?

In my city one of the options (besides SUV, black car, etc) is for persons with disabilities. The app seems to have some options to switch between requesting a driver with a wheelchair-compatible car and the city's own paratransit service. I've never used it myself, so I can't comment on the implementation.

Sounds like it does most of what ride-share services do.

Does Flywheel allow you to rate individual drivers/cars (and prevent being matched to creepy drivers or dirty cars on future rides)? I think that's actually one of the biggest value-adds of Uber/Lyft/Sidecar--direct feedback about drivers which tends to retain good drivers and reject bad ones.

Depends on the airport. Some airports are vicious about enforcing Uber bans (and the drivers quickly figure this out), so drivers will call to confirm your location if the pin is near the airport.

On the other hand, most airports have some sort of public transportation heading in a not-airport direction...

I think you're being more than a little unfair.

Part of the problem is that there simply isn't as much money to be made in digital as there was in analog. A digital camera doesn't need film, but film (and film processing) accounted for much of Kodak's profits for many years. So it's not just a simple matter of "make digital cameras instead of analog ones".

Also, remember that Kodak was very big into digital imaging, and was considered the leader in the field of high-end digital cameras. That is, until the Nikon D1 came along around 1999. Even then, Kodak sensors were common among the next few generations of DSLRs.

> [...] compared to the exorbitant rates [...] $8-10 shipping and handling for standard shipping [...]

So here's the thing: It actually does cost $8-10 to ship most of the types of things you can buy on Amazon. I don't know what Amazon pays for shipping, but I would be surprised if FedEx/UPS/OnTrac will even look at an Amazon box for less than $3-5 (to say nothing of transporting it).

Amazon Prime is predicated on the idea that you'll make Amazon your default retailer after paying for prime.

Being a customer's default retailer is a powerful position for two reasons. First, many customers don't shop around for the lowest price on each item (they shop for lowest basket price), so your margins don't get squeezed quite as much. Second, you don't need to advertise (as much) to these people, so it reduces your marketing spend.

As loyalty programs go, it's a very clever one.

Because it costs $85 every 5 years? Where does that money go? I don't know, but I bet whomever gets it is politically connected.

> I think it gets encoded into your boarding pass.

It does. Three beeps from the little scanner thingy at the ID check means you have Pre. One beep means you don't.

You were part of "managed inclusion" in TSA Pre(check).

Unless you're "randomly" selected by the little light on the secure side of the magnetometer.