maintains that it doesn’t run a car service at all, but rather it provides
an app that allows drivers to share their cars for a fee.^32 This has
raised a host of concerns about driver insurance and benefits, what
sort of safety and security obligations Uber has, and other issues.
Hence the #DeleteUber movement that sprung up in minutes in
February 2017 and led to an estimated 200,000 Uber users quitting
their account with the company over claims that Uber was trying to
exploit users during a taxi strike at JFK Airport over protests of
President Trump’s immigration executive order. The claim was that
Uber used the strike to market itself to desperate protesters stuck at
the airport. That the story wasn’t really true didn’t matter—it was a
glimpse into the disquiet even loyal users feel about Uber’s methods.^33
The world is still trying to figure out if Uber is good for us, or not.
Uber may be a glimpse into what the future looks like in a digital
economy: incredible apps providing a remarkable consumer
experience subsidized by swooning investors—but also millions of low-
paying jobs and a small segment of society splitting a herculean
windfall. Thousands of lords, millions of serfs.
Walmart
Walmart may have let Amazon leap to an early lead in the race to be
the dominant retailer of the digital age, but it’s not out of the race yet.
With nearly 12,000 stores in 28 countries, it generated more revenue
than any other company in the world in 2015, as it has every year in
this century.^34
When the world was moving online, Walmart was starting to look
like a dinosaur. But as companies are realizing that online commerce
can only thrive long term when it’s embedded in a real-world
infrastructure that includes stores, Walmart is still a force to be
reckoned with. It has decades of experience managing tight
inventories and efficient delivery systems, and its 12,000 stores can be
12,000 warehouses, 12,000 customer service centers, and 12,000
showrooms. Add in that some customers actually live in their RVs in