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Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler
Given that we are living through the dying days of the professional driver, I wonder what the long-term play for Uber is? Once we don't need other people to drive us, what then? Is Uber planning to be what Amazon is to cloud computing? I think Google already has their eye on that prize - that's the play here, right - the car "cloud"? I am not much of a techie, so you guys tell me...
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The supposed end-game is that Uber replaces all existing transportation activities with a fleet of self-driving cars that are cheaper that driving yourself. That's probably the only justification for all the money it's raised.
But self-driving cars are still some undetermined period of time away, and Uber would face competition from the likes of Google, the current automakers (many of whom are among the greatest engineering companies in the world and national champions that would get massive support from their countries), rental companies and public mass transit. And while governments may not fully regulate Uber because of its relationship with its drivers, they definitely will regulate if Uber has its own fleet of vehicles.
And finally, Uber already has self-driving cars where the driver cost is 0; it's markets that pay only 75c/mile. It's still more expensive than driving yourself.