[aaronbrethorst]

> Even if the vast majority of engineers and designers today are obsessing about...car rides

There's a lot I don't like about Uber, but that doesn't change the fact that it has changed the way I interact with transportation. I hate the word, but it is disruptive.

I would love to see every startup cause as much of a shitstorm as AirBnB and Uber have managed to do. At the very least, the public conversations they force us to have are incredibly useful.

Despite the fact that it flamed out spectacularly, think about how different the music industry would be today had Napster never existed.

[Cookingboy]

Uber is disruptive because it caters toward the SV/SF crowd (20 something professionals living in a crowded city with bad infrastructure but have quite a bit of disposable cash) better than the traditional public transportation can. Sure it's useful, but these days so many starts are no longer aiming to solve even first world problems now, they are aiming to solve the unique "silicon valley problems" that most people in this country can't even dream about.

Then investors throw millions at those companies and media put them under a glorified spotlight while the rest of the country is going through a rough recovery from one of the worst recessions in most people's memories, and that's when there is a backslash.

Again, not saying companies like Uber don't provide value, but how much capital in the form of money, talent, time and effort need to be poured into solving Silicon Valley problems for 20 something single professionals making six figures?