Jerktech is the very apt epithet for the class of "disruptive" startups that sell things that don't belong to them, like parking spots and restaurant reservations, simply raising the prices of them and making access to public resources a factor of your disposable income.
The term comes from a very good Josh Constine piece on Techcruch, in which he tries to draw a distinction between "disruptive" and "jerky."
Don’t concert ticket re-sale sites like StubHub encourage and take a cut from scalping? Yes, and I’m not a big fan of them for that reason. If the demand for a band’s ticket is high, they’re the ones that should be making the mark-up, not some sleazy guy with 20 computers who bought 40 tickets the second they went on sale to turn around and flip them. But at least that guy has to bet his own money that he can resell a private commodity he bought.
There are ways to disrupt with building JerkTech. Take Uber. I don’t always agree with with its aggressive execution, but the taxi industry had been content giving the people a crummy service for too long. With unreliable scheduled pick-ups, run-down cars, and road-ragey drivers talking on the phone the whole time, they were inviting someone to change things. Uber is far from perfect, but it’s giving people a better experience by updating an (albeit regulated) private industry.
Stop The JerkTech (via JWZ)
