I have zero interest in being driven around by someone who may or may not have an idea of where they are driving
I have zero interest in being driven around in a car that may be up to 8 years old (or whatever the age limit is)
I have zero interest in being driven around in a car where the driver is likely working this shift as a "second job"
I am a pretty big fan of the normal Uber black car service and would never use the cheap ride share/cough car option!
On the flip side;
Not all taxi drivers know where they are going either.
Some taxi drivers even take slightly longer routes, even if its an extra block, and if they did it to a majority of their passenger they can increase revenue by a worthwhile %.
Some taxi's I have been into feel like its more than 8 years old.
Some taxi drivers, it is their second job, weekend job etc.
Some drivers refuse to accept my fare because its not worthwhile enough [I live ~2kms from Sydney CBD for example]. The ones who refuse my fare know its illegal but still refuse to do so because they know very few % do complain because the onus is on me, I need to spend my spare time lodging a complaint, then its my word vs. the driver's word, the driver still maintains his or her right to refuse my fare on certain conditions and probably will use on of those conditions to justify why s/he said no. And would I do all this all because of $12.00 fare, very very unlikely.
FWIW I think the UBER concept is great. Being able to ride in a private citizens car who probably maintains it better than many regular taxi drivers, the driver to be ultimately ranked/rated on their performance so they will likely try and provide a good service to ensure that they build a good reputation, there is real time monitoring on the driver's location, cost of this service also appears more favourable than regular taxi's.
Now, UBER reminds me of the AirBNB business (rental of spare rooms, shared room, private apartments, homes etc) where basically private landlords are renting out spare rooms or whole properties out on short to medium term basis. I have used AirBNB close to a dozen times, mainly over Europe, and renting directly with the landlord. Many people are skeptical or reluctant to be renting directly because of a variety of reasons but its a model where you could rent accommodation, in good locations, for potentially much less than a smaller sized hotel room in a similar location. AirBNB works on a user rating system, so both the landlord and the renter can be rated and reviewed, so good landlords (and properties) are often easily determined.