It's that kind of displacement of traditional business by over the top (OTT) operators that use technology to improve service and, more importantly, to work out how to shift costs while still appearing attractive to takers that makes the effect of the internet economy hard to asses.
On the one hand, Uber adds value to the networked infrastructure and the internet without which it wouldn't work, ditto the smartphone business because you need a device to use the service.
On the other, it kills off older businesses in a year or two, because, compared to OTT enterprises, they are costlier to run, rigidly structured and can't offer customers the same easy, frictionless and elegant experience.
Looking at it positively though, if we invest in infrastructure and education that fosters and enables innovation, we could create an almost bulletproof economy.
This is typical of the transformation of the economy that's been happening over the past decade, and it's not going to stop. Someone out there will look at a business process, and think, "I can make that easier/faster/better/cheaper with an app or on the web".
The tech will do that of course, and at the same time cause job losses through automation.
Arguing that people should have seen the transformation coming is pointless. If people were able to do that, we would have a nation of billionaires as they would have managed to do what just a few tech entrepreneurs have and placed themselves on the top of the internet economy food chain.
Does such transformation become a net bonus for a country in the long run, or does it impoverish a nation with mega-scale multinationals squashing local businesses? Don't forget that Uber is valued at $82.3 billion currently
In comparison, Statistics NZ pegs the local economy this year at around the $240b mark. Uber is bigger than our entire, $65b export sector.
Looking at it positively though, if we invest in infrastructure and education that fosters and enables innovation, we could create an almost bulletproof economy. You have an idea and can realise it in New Zealand, a familiar English-speaking market before scaling it globally. What could be better?
That concept has to be shared by everyone though to work, and not just an elite who can afford to take part or we'll just be Silicon Valley writ large with shocking numbers of homeless people who the billionaires don't want to see or think about.
Meanwhile, Uber has eased into deliveries, using the same drivers who move passengers around. There's no reason to think that business expansion will be anything but a success for Uber.
Anyone who can't or doesn't want to open up accounts with courier companies will love Uber deliveries. If I was the boss of a large courier company that I wanted to keep alive over the next year or so, I'd have a quick chat with Uber about co-operation if it isn't too late already.
