Discussion for article #235365
instead of ringing a bell and having a maid appear, you press a touchscreen and have a maid appear (or schedule a maid to appear when you’re not around).
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There is certainly an elitism here if the suggestion is that everyone is going to use these services. But the rich have always had people to do errands for them. These apps probably push this down the economic ladder a bit as one can get servant like service for a few things that matter to one, without the expense of a full time servant. I don’t see myself using such services, but I have trouble seeing any problem with the fact that they are available for others where it is economically feasible. There have always been advantages and disadvantages to living in a big city.
There were hints of a problem with having people run errands when one doesn’t spend much time with them, but that is because they are dealing with many different people rather than working for just one. This could raise economic problems if their salaries or benefits are not comparable to current workers of similar backgrounds. But the fact that they do not get to know the users of the app at a deeper level doesn’t seem to be a real problem.
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I loved that the San Francisco DA got into it with a couple of parking-finder apps last year. The official take was that, by letting people charge money to let others know about a parking spot they were leaving, the app was making money off of public resources, which is a no-no. In reality though it was just a complete dick app. The app is only useful in areas where parking is a scarce commodity, and in those areas the parking spot being vacated will be taken almost immediately. The app just attempted to limit access to other techies with the same app. It was guaranteed to provoke fights, as someone would have to explain to someone waiting for the spot why it was reserved for someone else who hadn’t arrived yet, and could they move please to let that person in. A bad solution for a First World problem.
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Because as George Carlin so presciently stated:
Everyone wants a cell phone that’ll make pancakes and rub their balls
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Who fucking cares? They spent their time and money and sweat attempting to provide a product or service that people might like. If it winds up catering a niche market based on demand, be that because of interest level or financial reasons, then so be it. I take no offense at that. The REAL problem is that we’ve created two separate economies for the rich and the middle-class and never the twain shall meet, which is a related issue, but still different than crying about the fact that there is stuff out there you can’t afford. That’s always going to be the case for the 99.99% of us. The problem begins when the separation has been systemically institutionalized with an impermeable legal and economic membrane…where movement between the two is cut off, where the behaviors and activities of those in one economy no longer have any relevance to or effect upon the behavior and activities of those in the other, etc. We watched 99.99% of the economy blow the fuck up and rain ashes on us for 6 years. In the Other Economy, however, everything kept growing, spending went up, earning went up, luxury goods sales and investments went up, etc., and here’s the kicker: ti changed and influenced absolutely motherfucking nothing about the economic reality the rest of us lived in. That’s not tenable nor tolerable and it disproves the “trickle down” fairy tale. So yeah, the author seems to be touching on the real issue, but missing the forest for the trees.
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Who cares? Millennials and their obsession with their smart phones . . .
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Right on. Yesterday I ordered flowers to be delivered to my wife who will be out of town on her birthday.
I calculate they cost me twice or more what they would have cost if I bought them locally and handed them to her.
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The very same millennials that many believe will be the political antidote to aging boomers hooked on Faux News. As Puck says, What fools these mortals be!
So to the many liberally minded opiners out there who count on a demographic magic bullet or app delivering the society they want without actually having to perform the chore to vote in every election for every office themselves, I say Puck you!
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Caitlin–
You completely missed half the story. You focus on the consumers of these services, when the real class-struggle story is on the supply side. All these new-economy servants (no longer even employees with rights and safeguards, but now “independent contractors”) are doing the drudge work for pennies.
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the supposed high usage and great creative and productivity benefits must be framed with their audience: upper-class, mostly white (particular metropolitan area) urbanites with significant disposable income.
Having lived in Silicon Valley and still having a number of friends there, this is the kicker for the entire article. This isn’t the “Shut-In Economy”, this is the “Always Worker” economy. Sure, these young urban workers have high incomes and work in places with glitzy-sounding (almost ludicrous) on-site benefits like yoga and catering, etc. Why do they have them? Because that’s where they are for 16-18 hours per day, often 6-7 days per week. Their primary relationships are with coworkers or old friends from college they can get away with once a month or so, again because they have no life outside of work. By their late 30s, they’re burned out and perhaps a divorce or two with the interest of getting out of the rat race.
I’ve visited friends apartments that looked like they were still right out of college… some stuff put around the rooms, but obviously no one used the space on a daily basis outside of sleeping and showering.
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Can’t these apps be both? Let’s assume your “for the rich” premise is correct. I don’t understand how apps that make life easier for the working upper class (who don’t have household staff or they wouldn’t need the apps) can’t also be the future?
Now to your ‘for the rich’ premise: While these apps may not benefit the poor or end global hunger, they are something less than evil. And I can assure you that “the rich” do not get their food via Seamless, Munchery, Eat24, Grubhub or any other app.
By the way, I don’t believe for a minute that you haven’t enjoyed some food by at least one of these apps. They’re not picking up at Daniel or La Bernardin
In short, lighten up Francis. Very smart people are just trying to make a living by creating something that makes life easier for those that can afford smartphones and in the process creating low-skilled jobs for others who desperately need work in this economy.
And finally, unlike the false complaints of class warfare by Republicans this actually does smack of class warfare.
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Ms.Cruz,
Let’s talk about this article of yours in a few years when a more steady and improved income will possibly afford you the “luxury” of these “rich people apps”. Right now it seems you are having a case of sour grapes.
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Actually, I agree. I don’t have any of these electronic George Constanzas. In fact, I have NEVER had an app.
Why?
Because I’ve NEVER HAD A SMART PHONE!
Why?
Because how smart do you have to be to make a phone call?
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One of the reasons some of these apps are useful primarily in urban areas is they are a godsend for people, like me, who don’t have cars. It is far cheaper for me to order my groceries from Peapod than to own a car. Yes, I can get some things locally, but some of the products I want are not available within a reasonable walking distance and others are a pain to carry (like multiple bags of cat litter). I have not tried the other apps mentioned in this article, but I can’t say I never will. I’m a busy professional, but not in the 1%.
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No matter how many apps you create or how much money you make, just remember, you’ll still have to pay for it.
I think this is fairly spot on. The article was interesting in that it started to touch on the economic, and as the article pointed out geographic, bubble that the chattering classes that wax philosophical about these types of services changing the future live in, but it could have been strengthened by using that interesting observation as a starting point to step back and look at the broader implications and problems of that disconnect. By not taking that step it in a way kind of falls into the trap of that same sort of bubble resident navel gazing* that fails to make itself relevant to those out side of that bubble that it is criticizing.
Edit: To add a few additional thoughts. I think that it would have made a better story if the author had taken this story about the disconnect between those in the media saying these app services are the future and the day to day lives of the average person in this country for whom these apps have no relevance as a starting point. She could have then used it as the jumping off point for a media criticism on the bubble many in media exist in, which separates them from the lived experience of broad swaths of the country they are suppose to be reporting on and an examination of the impact that disconnect can have on their reporting. Personally I think that could have made an interesting story.
This is leaving aside any possible social justice take on the story regarding possible treatment of those workers used to provide these services, which could have represented another interesting tract for approaching the issue.
*albeit perhaps a bit more defensible in so far as it is pointing out the existence of the bubble to the other bubble residents.
It seems like this is just an article to whine that rich people can afford things that other people cannot. The rich have always hired people for services - this is the future of that.
While these services are not meant for people struggling to get buy, it does expand it a bit beyond the ultra wealthy that might typically have had these services in the past. It mainly just makes it more accessible to people that might not otherwise have thought of hiring people to do their chores for them.
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My favorite useless app is the one that puts a picture of a working fireplace on your smart phone so you can watch wood burn.
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Yeah, I got yer Munchery- RIGHT HERE!