Not an expert, but intuitively it shows that Uber doesn't have any monopoly over their time at any level.

They can't be hourly, because in any given hour they may work for two different companies. They can't be salary, because they are collecting income from both companies concurrently.

So what are they? Minutely employees?

Even if you try to say that they are minutely employees, you have to account for the fact that there is no preset schedule, or even an expectation that the Uber driver must take a fare offered them. In other words, there's no "boss"; the computers are just making a series of offers, some of which may be accepted and others rejected.

Again, not an expert; just using my intuition.

Thanks, that does shed some light.

Since each effective work 'shift' begins with picking up a rider and ends once they're dropped off, outside of the taxi industry the best comparison i can make off the top of my head is the workers of one of those 900s numbers. They can work from home and accept calls as they please, with each payment being independent of the next. I'm not sure if they're contractors or not, never really looked into it, but they would be 'minutely employees', so to say. You don't even really need a 'boss' in that situation either, just a computer switching calls.

That's another great example, and I think that industry and thousands more just like it are all 1099 today and are impossible to run as W2. This is a really crucially important distinction which drives a significant percentage of GDP. That's why I think ultimately they are throwing the baby out with the bath water and it won't stand.