Photo: BMW
Just imagine for a second you were in Travis Kalanick's shoes. You might not know who the man is (he's a lot more discreet than, say, Elon Musk, so it's OK if it doesn't ring any bells), but you've sure heard about his business. You might have even used it a few times.
He's the CEO of Uber, the ride-hailing company that took the world by storm, stirred up some conflicts in France and generated a few lawsuits in the US, but in the remaining time, it basically ferries people around in a much more civilized way than regular taxis do.
A recent financial evaluation of Uber placed its worth at around $62.5 billion, and even though that doesn't mean that Travis has that kind of money in the bank, you can bet your ass he's not waiting for the next payday like you and me either.
Still, he's trying to convince the world that the way we use cars and the way we think about personal transportation is plain wrong. He doesn't think private persons should have to own cars since this is an unnecessary financial burden for them. All you need to get from one point to another is a smartphone and some money in the bank. No car, no driver's license, no insurance, no tax, no nothing.
And since the best way to convince people of his views is to stick by them himself, Travis has revealed during the NOAH conference in Berlin that he doesn't own a valid driver's license anymore. Which would also explain the next revelation he made: he's the proud owner of a 1999 BMW M3 Convertible with a broken alternator. That means his decision to stop using his personal car dates way back - maybe not exactly 1999, but still.
For his own sake, I hope he realizes that this transition he hopes for will take some while. Also, it will never be complete, even with the introduction of autonomous cars because there will always be those who would want to drive. But give it time - about two generations or so - and the kids who grow up with cars with no steering wheel won't even imagine it was once possible to control the vehicle directly. It seems sad now, but they won't see it that way. Hard to imagine how a man who once drove a BMW M3 could think of something like this.
A recent financial evaluation of Uber placed its worth at around $62.5 billion, and even though that doesn't mean that Travis has that kind of money in the bank, you can bet your ass he's not waiting for the next payday like you and me either.
Still, he's trying to convince the world that the way we use cars and the way we think about personal transportation is plain wrong. He doesn't think private persons should have to own cars since this is an unnecessary financial burden for them. All you need to get from one point to another is a smartphone and some money in the bank. No car, no driver's license, no insurance, no tax, no nothing.
And since the best way to convince people of his views is to stick by them himself, Travis has revealed during the NOAH conference in Berlin that he doesn't own a valid driver's license anymore. Which would also explain the next revelation he made: he's the proud owner of a 1999 BMW M3 Convertible with a broken alternator. That means his decision to stop using his personal car dates way back - maybe not exactly 1999, but still.
For his own sake, I hope he realizes that this transition he hopes for will take some while. Also, it will never be complete, even with the introduction of autonomous cars because there will always be those who would want to drive. But give it time - about two generations or so - and the kids who grow up with cars with no steering wheel won't even imagine it was once possible to control the vehicle directly. It seems sad now, but they won't see it that way. Hard to imagine how a man who once drove a BMW M3 could think of something like this.
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