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0 pointssmt884y ago0 comments

> I used to call a cab by phone, and now I call it with an app. Not a huge difference.

And maybe you have lived places where this wouldn't mean anything to you, but you couldn't do this in most of the US before Uber.

Even in some well-known cities, your chances of getting a cab in < 30 min (if you could get one at all) were close to zero. There wasn't a single number to call -- you had to call many numbers and hope someone actually showed up. You couldn't track progress.

Where I grew up, my parents couldn't even get to the airport without asking a relative (and this is the biggest city in our home state).

A functioning, 24/7, predictable taxi system was absolutely not available in most of the US before Uber.

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harel4y ago

> A functioning, 24/7, predictable taxi system was absolutely not available in most of the US before Uber.

I find this quite surprising. I've lived in 3 countries (including the US but limited to San Francisco) and calling a cab was always a reliable thing. I know my scope of experience is still limited, but Uber being the silver bullet of taxies seems to me like an overstatement. They are great, I like them, but to me they are just a better version of something else, most times. At least that statement explains more their level of success.

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