As much as I dislike a lot of aspects of Uber & Lyft it's actually useful and provides a monumentally better service than taxis in my city (NYC). Seats are usually cleaner, you're not stuck in a car with a V8 engine burning who knows how much fuel to jerk back and forth between lights, less smells, they won't refuse your ride if you're going the wrong way, etc.

Is it a viable business? Probably not but it's useful as a global taxi network. Hopefully someone can make it work without shitting on drivers.