[lotsofpulp]

>You can get off an airplane just about anywhere and get a taxi at the taxi stand, but that never enabled a global company.

Because it didn't streamline the process as much as Uber/Lyft (and the use of internet). It's a big difference when you don't even need to talk to anyone.

>but you do it once per trip, just like the in flight entertainment app.

And that is enough friction to make Uber/Lyft worth it. The in flight entertainment app has a monopoly. If there was sufficient broadband access on the plane, no one would get the in flight entertainment app either.

However, I might download a new local app if I found out the local app's fare were sufficiently cheaper, since the friction of downloading a new app is relatively low.