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Electric scooter company Bird files for bankruptcy
(techcrunch.com)
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this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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Technology
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Sounds like a people problem
If people are being a problem, then it's a design problem.
The business model failed to deal with people leaving scooters in the way. It was a problem in every city.
I don't know if I'm weird but I've always been careful to park scooters in a way that doesn't hinder others. Also never thrown a scooter in a river or kicked them over and i don't get people who have the desire to do something like that. Not trying to pat my own back by saying this but it seems to me that it is possible to have micro-rental scooter services and treat it in a way that doesn't make it a nuisance or danger to others. Don't take my scooters away just because some people don't know how to behave. Like i don't imagine banning cars universally (though reducing them and promoting foot traffic would be nice) because some people are bad drivers, instead they get policed and fined/thrown in jail. I'm probably thinking way too naive about it but i like using scooters to go short distances.
IMHO it's a "negative externality" issue. Each individual saves precious seconds by leaving the scooter in the middle of the sidewalk. So a good way to internalize the cost might be to impound scooters left in the way, at the company's expense (like cars). Then the company can go through their data to determine if it was the last user's fault, or just some random jerk.
It's ultimately the company's problem, not the sidewalk-using public's problem, especially wheelchair users who can't move the scooters themselves.
(FWIW I used to charge these things as a side hustle and don't want them taken away either.)
I sort of agree. These things appeared overnight in a bunch of cities. It's not surprising to me that we didn't and don't have cultural best practices around them.
There are always going to be inconsiderate people, like those who don't pick up after their dogs or don't follow traffic laws. We don't respond by getting rid of dogs and cars.
Bird, Lime, and others should have invested in acclimating the culture to the presence of the scooters, helping ensure people weren't going to react like the top level poster ("I hate these things, get rid of em.")
I personally used them when they were first out and I happened to be visiting LA. They were useful, convenient, fun, and affordable. And most of all, low-impact compared to the alternative.
It's a loss to not have something like them as a transportation option. But considering the carelessness of the approach, I suppose it wasn't long for this world. Typical silicon valley pirate stuff; "disrupt" the culture on VC dime, try to push expenses onto someone else, and try to cash out ASAP. I like them; just wish they had been done better.