Oddly, the article does not talk about "why"! So - let me shoot my guess. Uber didn't invent a new category. There were already taxi dispatchers, and there wer

Oddly, the article does not talk about "why"! So - let me shoot my guess. Uber didn't invent a new category. There were already taxi dispatchers, and there were already "radio-taxi" and "mini-cab" dispatchers - private driver fleets, who weren't licensed to be flagged down curbside, but otherwise operated as Uber. You placed a call, the operator gave you a quote and wait estimate, and told you the license plate of the car to expect. Uber just put a fancy app on this.