My experience in London was that Uber radically disrupted things. Yes, private hire cars existed, but the experience was pretty bad. You'd phone a number or go to an office, they'd say "20 minutes" and then, hopefully, a car would turn up. It involved a lot of waiting on streets (especially at night) and sometimes no car would turn up. There was no recourse or way to contact the driver.
Maybe app based hire cars were an inevitable product of smart phones. If not Uber, then someone else. But certainly Uber's business model was incredibly disruptive of that industry. From my perspective it had a really strong effect on how my generation lived in the city.
I'd say that the biggest change is that you now can use that same app to effortlessly hail a car in New York, Hong Kong and Sao Paulo.
The fact that I don't have to stress and figure out a new taxi system every new city I visit is a big plus. On the flip-side, the taxi system quirks of new cities could also be charming in a way. Double edged sword I guess.
I've never taken an uber from a place with hailable cabs. I would never have left a night haunt in Tottenham or a friends house in Denmark Hill and expect to find a taxi. Like, ever.
Sure, some cabs would be finishing jobs taking people home from Shoreditch and soho, but you'd just have to walk to a main road and hope you bumped in to one. Along with anyone else doing the same thing...
Maybe app based hire cars were an inevitable product of smart phones. If not Uber, then someone else. But certainly Uber's business model was incredibly disruptive of that industry. From my perspective it had a really strong effect on how my generation lived in the city.