Is Uber’s Surge-Pricing an Example of High-Tech Gouging? - NYTimes.com

A timely Internet commerce reality check

"Market efficiency is not always the same thing as consumer benefit — a lesson worth learning in the digital age, for Uber riders as well as everyone else. There are far more sly forms of technology-enabled price discrimination out there, from airlines charging more if you are using a savvy web browser to online retailers charging you more if you are from a posh ZIP code. But on the Internet, the deck is still stacked on the consumer’s side, given the web’s powerful ability to facilitate comparison shopping. Shocked by Uber’s surge prices, after all, there’s nothing from holding an Uber user back from hoofing it home free or trying her luck waving her arms at the passing, fixed-price cabs on the street."

Is Uber’s Surge-Pricing an Example of High-Tech Gouging? - NYTimes.com