I didn't write scalable, I wrote sustainable. By that I mean that the longer term impact on society will be negative, compared to options they've been replacing.
Any of the other gig economy setups have comparable issues. For food delivery it is now more expensive, with worse conditions for the drivers. Here in Finland unfortunately they deregulated the taxi market as response to uber (instead of just doing the senible thing of just banning it) - as a result taxi market is a mess now, and I've avoided taking a taxi or comparable services for years now. I'd rather walk.
For me taxi market was a mess before Uber. Long and unpredictable wait times, high prices, frequent scams, impolite drivers. Now with Uber and bolt it's a breeze - I just call a driver and drive with my mind at peace. And I know the price up front.
One writeup about some of the airbnb issues is here: https://www.theinvisibletourist.com/why-you-shouldnt-use-air...
Any of the other gig economy setups have comparable issues. For food delivery it is now more expensive, with worse conditions for the drivers. Here in Finland unfortunately they deregulated the taxi market as response to uber (instead of just doing the senible thing of just banning it) - as a result taxi market is a mess now, and I've avoided taking a taxi or comparable services for years now. I'd rather walk.