Before remote working becomes a trend recently, location-based pay is just a result of price being determined by supply and demand, plus the fact that location

Before remote working becomes a trend recently, location-based pay is just a result of price being determined by supply and demand, plus the fact that location is a major constraint for both job seeking and recruiting. For anyone believes their work has intrinsic value, if you try to calculate this value into a number (salary), ultimately you need to use some kind of market reference (Like, I am able to get an offer of $xxxx from another company). This market reference is heavily based on location if remote work isn't a viable option to you. Now, why do companies still stick to location-based pay when many other companies are embracing remote work? I think that's just cultural inertia and eventually software engineers will be paid without taking their location into account. But that's not a good thing for everyone, because the salary at that point will probably be much lower than what people get paid in SF area today.