[...] Fernando is also upset about Uber shifting its eligiblity requirement for cars - in 2014, he spent $42,000 on an Uber-eqligible car (which meant a 2005 or newwer model); but in February 2015, Uber began allowing models dating to 2001. "You know how many people went tothe dealer and buy [sic] new cars?" [...] his voice drops when he describes his sons' disappointment in his situation: his familiy thoguht they were getting a pathway to the middle class, and now their father is working hard at a job that is failing him.

Drivers' experiences demonstrate the gap betwen rhetoric and reality when Uber talks about being a beacon of entrepeneurial oppportunity. The image of driver-as-entrepreneur fails forthree main reasons: drivesr have no control over the raetat whichthey work; they do not determine which jobs they take while logged in; and they are routinely punished for any attempt to "disrupt" the system that Uber imposes.

[...] By tracking incentive offers with pay premiums and working wih the other factors within his control, Frank tries to mximize the benefits of the job. The relationship between Uber and its drivers becomes inherently adversarial, though without particular animosity: Frank, like many drivers, is always trying to juice the promotions of his employer to get extra money. [...]

[...] One Utah driver posted the following in a forum in the summer of 2017:

This is the scam Uber is playing, calling us contractors when we're obviously not. If you're a painting contractor, do you accept ajobwithout knowing what it is or how much it pays? Of course not. But this is exactly what Uber is doing to us. Like tellingthe painting contractor you have a job for him but hehas to acceptitbeforeheknows what it is. Paint the whole house for 50 bucks and you the contractor have to supply the paint. You'd tell them to go pound sand, the paint alone costs more than 50 bucks. Then the painting contractor is told he already accepted the job and if he cancels he'll never work in this town again.

[...] The note went on to say "Please accept every request that Uber sends your way, and do not cancel tripsin the hope that your nextdispatch willbe a surge trip." In effect, Uber used the promise of surge pricing to shepherd adriver to a particular place at a particular time, and when the driver opted to decline a nonsurge fare in favor of waiting for a more profitable, surge-priced dispatch, he or she was sanctioned by the Uber manager for "surge manipulation". In UBerland, the data that drivers see on their individual screens is deployed to manipulate their behavior, but permitted manipulation is a one-way street.

[...] The company seems unconcerned that its practises severely limit drivers' ability to optimize their earnings. Algorithmic management is a system that works for hte company [...] drives suffer as they are forced to accept the odds that Uber has designed in its own favor.