Uber

The Uber scandal highlights big tech’s big failure

16 July 2022 9:00 am

A few years ago the Conservatives were excited about the march of the tech giants. Uber was offering an alternative…

The car industry is accelerating towards an electric future

27 February 2021 9:00 am

Back in November, when Downing Street’s pandemic responses looked daily more incompetent, the announcement of a ban on sales of…

The problem with the Supreme Court’s Uber ruling

19 February 2021 10:50 pm

They are monitored by the firm. They don’t have the option of working for other companies. And they are entitled…

Who started America’s presidential debates?

3 October 2020 9:00 am

Word for word US presidential debates are often traced back to the first televised debate, between Richard Nixon and John…

Letters: Why have the Conservatives decided Chesterfield is a lost cause?

14 December 2019 9:00 am

Given up on Chesterfield? Sir: Matthew Parris makes some interesting and accurate points about growing Tory support in the north…

Portrait of the week: Chief Rabbi speaks out, Uber loses its licence and police draw tasers at the cinema

30 November 2019 9:00 am

Home The Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, intervened in the election campaign by declaring that anti-Semitism was a ‘poison — sanctioned…

There’s no need to mourn the loss of Uber’s London licence

30 November 2019 9:00 am

Early experiences of Uber in London did not encourage me to become a regular user. My first driver thought I…

Helen Lederer (Getty)

Helen Lederer: The day I went viral in the Claridge’s lavatory

27 April 2019 9:00 am

The best moment of my Easter ended up being an impromptu debate with the delightful comedian Sarah Millican about the…

What Uber rides taught me about immigration

21 July 2018 9:00 am

It was blessedly cool inside the Romanesque nave, its massive arches resisting the heat as they had done everything else…

Raising the threshold crappiness

7 October 2017 9:00 am

I love anything open late at night. Never mind ‘the sigh of midnight trains in empty stations’; even mundane activities…

Uber was the ugly snowplough that cleared the path but its dominance is bound to fade

30 September 2017 9:00 am

An Uber insider tells me not to write off the ride-hailing giant too soon, because it’s a very smart company…

Warning: rationality could be bad for your health

21 May 2016 9:00 am

Almost every popular commercial product owes its success to two different qualities. First, it does the job it is ostensibly…

Life gets faster — as the Earth slows down

16 April 2016 9:00 am

Modern life is too fast. Everyone is always in a hurry; people skim-read and don’t take the time to eat…

Would you like to buy an American’s vote?

26 March 2016 9:00 am

Killing time in a Heathrow first-class lounge, I notice how many men adopt an unmistakable ‘first-class lounge’ persona. They stand…

Online feedback frenzy is killing the art of complaint

26 March 2016 9:00 am

Internet surveys have killed the art of complaint

The unforeseen dangers of Uber and Airbnb

5 March 2016 9:00 am

In Silicon Valley, renting out is the new selling —and renting out stuff that belongs to other people can be…

Why the greatest innovations do only one thing, but do it well

12 December 2015 9:00 am

McDonald’s got rid of cutlery. Uber does not allow you to pre-book taxis. Amazon began by selling only books. Conventional…

Powder to the people: the new deal for the cocaine market

29 August 2015 9:00 am

Fierce competition is forcing drug dealers to adjust their sales methods

George Osborne meets former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (Photo: Getty)

A Budget to show how it should be done – as the Greeks show how it shouldn't

11 July 2015 9:00 am

George Osborne’s Budget was good politics: not so much in terms of tactical point-scoring, though there was plenty, but in…

That’s not a ‘sharing economy’: that’s an invitation to sell your whole life

28 March 2015 9:00 am

The sinister, manipulative side of Uber and Airbnb

The joys and sorrows of two-way ratings systems

17 January 2015 9:00 am

‘J’ai failli attendre’ — ‘I almost had to wait’ — allegedly said by Louis XIV when his carriage drew up just a…

Yes, Wonga lent at shocking rates – but it was customers who lied

11 October 2014 9:00 am

‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…