Remember when streaming and e-hailing offers better pricing compared to the traditional Astro, taxi, and other local services? Guess what? All those super hyped-up innovations are looking a lot like the old stuff they were supposed to outdo.
Streaming vs Astro
So let’s talk streaming. You know, Netflix, Disney Hotstar, and all that jazz. They swore they’d give us better stuff and keep our wallets intact. But what do we have now? Higher prices, bundles that make us scratch our heads (just like Astro or Unifi TV packages), and hold on tight, ads!
Yeah, we’re paying to see ads now. Who thought that was a good idea? Astro did it, and everyone jumped ship to streaming! Now streaming services start streaming ads too, where else can we jump to? (At the time of writing, Netflix has ads plan for 12 countries, not including Malaysia, YET!)
Streaming was supposed to save us from the cable nightmare and be budget-friendly. But it seems like that ship has sailed.
Sure, you can find streaming options without ads, but now it’s becoming so expensive, and the bundles are so tangled up, that it’s feeling a lot like good ol’ Astro – the thing streaming was supposed to kick to the curb.
GrabCar, AirAsia Ride, and the Sad Saga of the Price Hike
Switching gears, let’s talk about e-hailing. Since GrabCar kicked taxi and Uber out of the market, they are monopolizing the e-hailing market right now. Which means they can do whatever they like, such as jacking up prices.
Nowadays, the price of ordering e-hailing services is so high, that it might be more economical to just take taxi, especially when traveling in Kuala Lumpur City Centre, and especially during peak hours.
Just for kicks, I did some experiment using taxi to go back Puchong from PPUM vs Grab pricing. Same distance, taxi charge less than Grab. But taxi pricing is subjected to traffic, whilst Grab pricing is static.
The grand vision of e-hailing being better has faded, thanks to regulations, pay disputes with drivers, and a relentless chase for profits.
Everything old is new, again.
Well it looks like we have come to the endgame, where everything old is new, again.
Astro charged so high because it is profitable to do so. Streaming come in disrupting the market, but only to go the old way because is it profitable to do so.
Same goes with e-hailing. Taxi existed that way because it is the most profitable, and e-hailing started cheap and “user friendly” because they have venture capitalist providing them with low-interest loan to capture the market.
At the end of the day, everything old is new, except there is no competition.
