I disagree, my city has the dedicated drop off zones and guess what, they're ALL on the sidewalks. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if pedestrians were more than an afterthought (compared to cars). Ideally, the rental bikes should be allowed to park wherever, including (especially?) in car parking spaces.

Not sure why you take issue with a company's profits being centered around maintaining the bikes. "Externalizing the losses" is not a meaningful expression - both companies are profiting from the relationship.