Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Hongi Luo, brand director at TikTok. In terms of cultural reach and impact, the biggest tech app in … Read more
International rideshare company DiDi launched in Auckland last week, promising cheaper fares and better takes for drivers. But is the newest player to the rideshare game offering lasting solutions to the industry’s woes? For weeks, rideshare drivers been promoting DiDi by handing out coupons to Uber and Ola customers, encouraging them to download the app. … Read more
The blurred lines between employees and independent contractors have once again been examined in the employment court. This time it involves the world’s largest ride-hailing company. For the very first time, Uber has been drawn into the New Zealand Employment Court to contest whether a former driver was an employee or an independent contractor. This … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, e-bikes are now just a tap away! Josie Adams reviews the latest disruption in transport culture. When Lime launched in 2018, New Zealand’s transport culture got the electric shock it needed. For too long we’d had traffic pile-ups, bus … Read more
Duncan Greive shares his three philosophies on buying shares in global giants for people who are curious but terrified about investing. Like any perfectly normal twenty-something, I started investing in sharemarkets after reading a Warren Buffett biography. I came across The Making of an American Capitalist in a second-hand bookstore. It’s a well-regarded account of … Read more
Uber’s habit of pushing tax rules to breaking point is the reason Terry Baucher refuses to use the ridesharing service. But price and convenience outweigh most people’s moral indignation, he writes. In the 2010s the true extent of aggressive tax planning practices by tech giants like Apple, Google and Facebook emerged. These behemoths simultaneously piled up … Read more
Summer reissue: Uber became one of the biggest companies in the world in a few short years. Duncan Greive reviews Mike Isaac’s extraordinary Super Pumped, which shows the world just what it sacrificed for cheap rides. First published 29 September, 2019. There are so many stories in Super Pumped, a riveting new account of the … Read more
Eight years after publication, Walter Isaacson’s “iBio” Steve Jobs remains massively influential. Danyl Mclauchlan examines how the deeply flawed genius the book revealed continues to manifest. It’s the end of the decade, and my social media aggregators are filled with lists of the best, most influential books of the last 10 years. For most writers … Read more
Organisations from across Auckland have gathered to come up with solutions to make the city safer for women at night – including a commitment from Uber NZ to make it easier to report harassment and abuse, write Emma McInnes and Amanda Gilmore. Over 70% of women in Aotearoa have been a victim of street harassment … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Campbell Brown, CEO of PredictHQ. This week we talk to Campbell Brown, the CEO of amazing NZ founded … Read more
Uber became one of the biggest companies in the world in a few short years. Duncan Greive reviews Mike Isaac’s extraordinary Super Pumped, which shows the world just what it sacrificed for cheap rides. There are so many stories in Super Pumped, a riveting new account of the rise of Uber, which seem to capture … Read more
Small businesses have told The Spinoff that hefty commission fees from the global delivery giant are pushing them to the brink, and are asking why global fast food chains get a discount. Small hospitality businesses are paying substantially higher commission rates to Uber Eats than fast food giants using the food-delivery app, and some say … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ about the news of the moment. Today, we look at the UberEats busy area fee that has just launched in Auckland. The what? You know how you often pay more for a ride when everybody is heading out on a Friday night and Uber is … Read more
Flamingo and the Uber-owned Jump launch in the capital today, with the city becoming New Zealand’s fifth to see shareable e-scooters Eight months after the invasion of the Limes scandalised the previously 100% safe streets of Auckland, Wellington is to get its first taste of electric scooters, with two rival providers having received permits from … Read more
Melbourne joins two American cities as launch markets for Uber air taxis, part of plans to add a ‘third dimension’ to its ride-hailing services Uber users could be travelling by air around Melbourne as soon as 2023 under plans announced today. The Australian city was named as the third pilot market for Uber Air, and … Read more
It pays to shop around, and ridesharing services are no different. Some are cheaper, others are more convenient, so which is which? We take you through four options worth trying in Auckland. Uber: The Incumbent It’s the company synonymous with 21st-century ridesharing. A company so big, so ubiquitous, that ‘Uber’ isn’t just a name any … Read more
A report commissioned by Uber says Auckland wins Australasia’s traffic congestion Grand Prix and needs to embrace ‘point-to-point’ transport. It’s official: Auckland is the most congested city in Australasia, according to Uber. It hired international management consultancy Boston Consulting Group to look at transport in the region’s major cities and what role ridesharing services such … Read more
Smaller, cheaper, cleaner: e-bikes and e-scooters are already disrupting even transport giants like Uber, writes Greater Auckland’s Patrick Reynolds. The electric revolution on our city streets, already underway, looks much more like a scooter than a Tesla. Why? Physics and geometry: size really matters for both energy consumption and spatial efficiency. And both drive affordability and therefore … Read more
In the same week that a petition was launched to ban “sexist” ride-sharing app DriveHer, Uber has launched a new initiative to end gender violence in their cars. Uber has launched a new safety initiative in New Zealand and Australia called Driving Change, part of a commitment to preventing gender-based violence for users of the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM put on the back foot over refugee quota, police reject pay offer, and some juicy local government drama unfolds in Cromwell. Plans to increase the refugee quota appear to be in jeopardy, after a public intervention from deputy PM Winston Peters, reports Newshub. Mr Peters set events … Read more
The NZ Rideshare Drivers Network is asking Uber drivers and passengers to join a day of action over pay and conditions. Shobhit Kashyap, an Uber driver and Network spokesperson, makes the case The rideshare industry is dependent on more than just a piece of technology. It depends on the people who drive the vehicles. We … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, the ‘everyday air taxi’ that’s taking off in Canterbury. It’s been called an “everyday air taxi”, and a “flying car”, but isn’t it… a plane? Yes, yes it is. In the hills around Canterbury, a small, self-piloted electric … Read more
For thousands of New Zealanders in the past year, food delivery has become synonymous with UberEats as customers love it for its simplicity and convenience. But what about the restaurants? What’s it like to be on the other side of the table? Jihee Junn talks to Auckland restaurant owners to reflect on a year of … Read more
It’s ridesharing app versus ridesharing app as global juggernaut Uber and local upstart Zoomy go head to head. Which one is fastest, cheapest and easiest to use? Jihee Junn enlisted Don Rowe to help find out. Going up against Uber is no easy feat. Just ask Lyft, which has long played second fiddle to Uber’s … Read more
Don Rowe’s car has no warrant and no rego. But with the power of the sharing economy he went for a roadtrip to Raglan in a performance car, and northern exploration in a drop top classic. Fast cars seem like a ridiculous and ostentatious display of wealth – until you drive them. Then it starts … Read more
Is the freelance dream souring? Victoria Crockford finds insecurity abounds inside the gig economy, and argues we need to make sure rights are not lost with the rise of flexible work. ‘Got Paid’, ‘Went Outside’, ‘Remembered to Eat!!’, cheerfully quipped some of the ‘freelance achievement stickers’ designed by Jeremy Nguyen for the New Yorker recently. … Read more
Book an Uber, an Airbnb and a stranger to look after your child? Maria Slade looks into the potentially risky business of online parenting services. Coverage of Balmoral mum Jane Haagh’s new childcare venture, Sitterzen, sent Facebook into a frenzy this week. Dubbed the ‘Uber of babysitting’, the aspect of her web-based service which most … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman reviews food delivery service Uber Eats. The simple concept of Uber Eats makes you immediately wonder ‘do we really need this?’ An Uber service that delivers very specific food to your door. Seems unnecessary. Before we get started, … Read more
Uber seems like a terrible company. But beyond binning an app, the challenge for the tech industry is to delete an entrenched, monolithic culture that sees women and minorities leaving in droves, writes Sacha Judd This week, Susan Fowler published a blog post about her time working as an engineer for Uber, and why she … Read more