Here in Orlando there is currently a big Uber fight going on, as there has been in almost every big city in the world. Of course, the taxi drivers don't like it. One of my friends chided me for using Uber and denying a cabby his or her service.
I get it.
But "on demand" services are here and the shift is taking place whether we oldies like it or not. Uber, valued at over 40 billion dollars, is the most successful ride sharing service , but there are others right behind like Lyft, Sailo and Blablacar.
We've all seen the adds for Lending Club. You can get dressed up and go beg your bank for a loan or stay in your PJ's and find one on your computer. Through an app you can rent out your driveway when parking is an issue or rent an apartment in Europe. Or, if you have solar panels, you can sell your excess electricity to a utility.
But, yes, there are down sides, like no pensions, health insurance and vacation days.
One of my favorite columnists, Joel Stein, wrote a very funny and very serious article in this week's Time Magazine about the new on-demand economy. He says that some of the changes in society that have propelled this phenomena are the fact that more than half the world's population now lives in cities. But, more importantly, we are becoming a people who want less stuff and more experiences. He says, "...the homes of rich people and millennials are increasingly stark; only poorer people are still piling up stuff in their guest showers and storage units...Almost all happiness studies show that experience increases contentment far more than purchases do."
Joel Stein tried offering several of the "on demand" services from his own home.
I've always wondered (Joel says) if I could be a restaurant chef. So, through a Tel Aviv-founded company called EatWith, I'm charging eight strangers $35 each to dine at my house in Los Angeles...No one seems disturbed that a 5-year old boy, my son Laszlo, is the main waiter.
Toward the end of his article he says, My car...is still being driven around by some mad Italian woman with no clue how to operate the transmission. But, all in all, Joel had positive experiences.
To me, the point is, how we obtain services is changing. How it shifts and how it becomes a fair playing field is yet to be determined.
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