If Uber fails, its critics will interpret that as evidence that their criticisms were right all along. What they will ignore is that it provided better service at better prices than cabs, and particularly in lower-income urban neighborhoods.
Its critics will in fact rejoice in the demise of a model that provided greater consumer satisfaction, one in which consumer feedback on drivers mattered, and in which driver feedback on consumers mattered, creating incentives for both sides to be decent to each other.
For these reasons, I hope Uber-type services survive (the particular company doesn't matter, just the service), and for the same reasons I predict the general business model will survive.
You know what other company lost a crapload of money for lots of years? A little ditty called Amazon. That said, I'm surprised they managed to lose money for that long (20 years?) without going out of business. But i'm glad they succeeded. It's not even a slight exaggeration to say that Amazon has made my life, and countless others, better.
It highlights the ludicrous American left, which continues to present the company and its founder as some kind of bogeyman.
The bottom line is, Uber may not profit for years to come, but that may well be part of the grand plan. Raising prices might stub the losses in the short run, but how many businesses raise prices to be competitive? In the long run, aggressive investment back into infrastructure and growing the ecosystem will make the company larger and more efficient. And yes, predatory pricing is part of that.
