Riding a cab has gone from slightly dangerous and more often than not displeasing experience, to having a private driver that knows exactly where I want to go and how to get there. Besides, not having to use cash is a great plus as well.
So there you go, maybe not in the US, but in many countries where the taxi industry totally sucked, Uber has already succeeded big time.
same in brazil. my parents never took cabs and now they are using uber for everything (since they are getting older and don't want to drive everywhere).
Succeeded at making money? Or, failing that, succeeded at building a business that someday may be able to make money?
More importantly, Amazon could have been profitable for much of the time. Amazon was losing money because they were taking the profits from they successful ventures and pouring it into new ventures.
With Uber, what change do they make right now to switch to a very profitable company? Amazon had that option, Uber does not.
If there was a machine where you could insert a 20 dollar bill and it spit out the 20 and an additional 12 cents, would you not use that machine?
How much would you pay to buy one?