[pawelwentpawel]

I don't think that Uber through SMS would be strong enough to compete with taxi services.

One of the core features that made me use Uber was the map - I could see where the driver is going and how far away is he. Also, the app is localised into language that I can understand and I can see the price upfront without having to worry about getting scammed. Recently I had to book a taxi over the phone at the end of the world (literally - Ushuaia) in a language that I can barely speak and the experience was rather stressful in comparison with using an app.

[flagrant_taco]

Seeing a price up front is just a different business model and localization could be easily handled with a setting on your account. Neither is tech-dependent, both could have worked over SMS too.

Real-time mapping would be tricker if that's really a killer feature for you.

[eru]

Some real life traditional taxi services used to offer pre-agreed fixed fairs. But many of them were regulated away.