Fighting against technology can be like trying to swim upstream – it ain’t going to happen.

This is essentially the problem that’s happening with European (particularly London and Berlin) taxi drivers, who have decided to protest against the transport-service app, Uber. They may as well get their pitchforks and fire-torches out by the way they’re acting.

The Uber app has provided users with an efficient and convenient way to order Uber taxis or car services, without the hassle of having to track a cab down in-person.

What the traditional taxi drivers (we’ll use “traditional” just for the sake of the argument) are complaining about is that Uber works out the cost of journeys through the app, and the taxi drivers say it is the same as using a traditional taxi meter, which only black cabs are legally entitled to use.

So basically, the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) are up-in-arms about the training and regulations they have to go through, when suddenly a company like Uber comes along and “steals” their business.

The traditional drivers claim that the protest is “not about technology”, but really, it is. It’s because of technology that Uber has been able to get the edge on the public transport market, and Uber also assures that “every driver meets all local regulations” and is vetted with insurance and background checks.

It’s not different to the apprehensiveness of the print media industry to embrace the age of digitisation and the internet – and we can all see how that’s panned out for a number of companies.

A lot of things have changed since cabbies had to acquire “The Knowledge”, which was a rigorous test requiring encyclopedic knowledge of London’s roads and its landmarks. The age of GPSs, which all those traditional cab drivers use, changed the way in which taxis operate. They embraced that change in technology, why can’t they embrace the next step?

The pros of convenience of an app like Uber are obvious, but it’s the protest that has highlighted how petulant and aggressive the taxi drivers are acting. Mashable’s Chris Taylor sums up the situation well:

That’s how the ride-sharing apps are growing, by word of mouth, great painless experience by great painless experience. Honk and rant all you want — you can’t stop this process. The only thing you can do is meet the apps on their own turf: Band together, and create your own app. You have the advantage in numbers. Get on board with 21st-century technology, and you’ll win.

But in the meantime, get off the road, and let us through.

If you can’t beat’em, join’em.

[source: BBC]