First it was Uber for taxis, now there’s UberEATS. I fear the age of ‘Uberification’ is upon us. This refers to the advent of mobile on-demand services, especially popular in the US. The idea of some of the ‘Uberized’ services might pinch your soul, like they pinched mine.
Here are some of them:
Uber for scooters, Uber for private jets, Uber for babysitters, Uber for flowers (Oh Lord!), Uber for dog walkers, Uber for dog sitters, Uber for massages, and Uber for booze.
Of course these businesses aren’t all called ‘Uber’. The idea behind ‘Uberification’ is providing on-demand services for every single need of mankind. This idea is positioned in a way that products and services that you would ordinarily have to leave your house to get or enjoy can now meet you at home.
For every consumer demand that can be imagined, there will be a mobile app that can service that need. All you will need to do is place an order, wait at home or wherever and your order will arrive at your doorstep. Reminds me of a certain Aladdin and his magic lamp. The only difference being the lamp didn’t bill him and he was limited to just 3 orders.
How is this changing the world?
It saves us time
The time I would spend roaming round a store or waiting for a scooter taxi, I could just sit at home, push a button and get it at my doorstep. This gives me time to do other important things.
It makes us look cool
Yes, seriously. Have you ever seen an ugly Uber cab? I haven’t. And the cool thing is, anybody can call a Uber, as long as they have a smartphone and the app. And yes of course, enough money in their account.
It makes life more convenient for us
The uberification of things gives us quicker access to services that meet our needs. We all need to eat (except you’re a robot), move around our cities and fly in private jets. These on-demand services take care of these needs through their mobile apps.
It helps with accountability
Bye bye to the days of spending money on a trip or buying items at the mall and not having records of them. With every on-demand order you make, you get electronic receipts which help you keep record of expenses. This improves your accountability as you are able to better track your spending.
Uberification has its shortcomings. For one, it makes some of us lazier. We can only wonder what the future of on-demand services will be. In time, all our basic needs will be accessible via apps. While this is an exciting prospect, it will meet a lot of opposition and be under a lot of scrutiny, as Uber has come to find out.
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