Re-branding isn't Invention

[jackfaire]

So I was at work talking to a younger co-worker about Mixologists. I pointed out how it's just a rebranded Bartender. She was all "Oh so they do all the same stuff" "Yeah" "oh well at least mixologisits made it so you can go to school for it" and I had to point out that Bartending school has been a thing for decades.

It actually made me think of all of the "new" things that my generation supposedly invented. We came up with Uber and Lyft "ride sharing" only it's not you're just taking a cab. Literally all those companies did was start companies where they don't fall under the same regulations that cab companies do so that they can charge consumers whatever they want and consumers have no protection.

Air BNB is just running hotels with no oversight. None of the services being offered are actually new they are just rebranded versions of the old ones thought up to get around any and all consumer protection laws.

Working for Amazon is now a "side gig" when really it's a part time job only now they have convinced people it's cool and hip to be working for them for peanuts instead of a shitty part time job that breaks every labor law there is.

I don't mind if someone comes up with something new that's genuinely a new thing but this is more like reinventing the fork and calling it a dingelhopper.

All to stick it to people whom you've convinced are being ripped off by the services and products they were using before.

[protege]

I don't mind if someone comes up with something new that's genuinely a new thing but this is more like reinventing the fork and calling it a dingelhopper.

It's been going on a long time. Much like how "used" cars...are now "pre-owned," and how certain local dealers get annoyed if you use the 'old' term. Last I checked, you can call it whatever you want, but it still doesn't change the fact it's been used. Nor does it change the fact that people are stupid, and will gobble up anything seen as "new and exciting," even though the "old" things have been around for generations.

[jackfaire]

It's been going on a long time.

*nods* I think this started bugging me specifically because it's starting to affect me. I am getting objectively shittier service because other people like having their own thing that the "olds" can't touch.

Sure you can mix me a drink still but now you're charging me double the price because you call yourself a mixologist instead of a bartender.

Demand for cabs going down means I now have to budget for an Uber which can change it's prices on a whim thus making it so unless the local cab company can survive the invasion means I have one less transportation option. I don't make enough money to just hop in and hope I am not about to hit surge pricing.

Something like Grub Hub or Uber Eats is a good idea because it creates a delivery system for restaurants that didn't have one. But the others are simply taking an existing service and making a worse version of it.