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It doesn’t matter how many words people write and how many times they say “disruption” Uber is still just a taxi company.

• basch 8y ago
  It's really not. Its closer to a sms app or craigslist and a payment processor. Its a communication app two people use to find each other.
  • gumby 8y ago
    I really want to agree with the GP post — it’s the classic business school formulation after all — but you are right. The nuance I would add is that to the end user Uber is an alternative to a taxi (fits the ecological niche better for the wealthy customers). However your formulation is correct for the drivers, and most importantly for the investors. It has an economy of scale that taxi companies done. And there’s the “for the wealthy customers” part: taxis have to serve pretty much everyone by law in most places. Uber drivers are free to not pick up customers in neighborhoods they don’t want to. Which is why I can get an Uber at 4 am in Palo Alto but not in Queens.
  • shanghaiaway 8y ago
    No it's not. The user communicates with Uber. The driver communicates with Uber. Uber matches the two. Uber charges the user for the fare. There is not even a little bit of peer to peer activity going on.