Some things aren’t worth saving.

I keep seeing people wring their hands over Waymo eating into rideshare, like it's some kind of tragedy. It's not. It's just what happens when something better shows up and the old thing can't justify its existence anymore.

Let's talk about movie theaters for a second, because I think it's basically the same story. There was a time when going to the theater was the only way to see a movie. That was it. No streaming, no rental, no forty different apps fighting for your five-dollars-a-month. You wanted to see something, you got in the car, you paid for a ticket, and you sat in a room with strangers eating popcorn that cost more than the movie itself. That made sense at the time, because there was no alternative.

Now there are multiple alternatives! I can watch almost anything I want from my couch, on my schedule, and without spending $50 on lame snacks. And somehow theaters are still acting shocked that people aren't showing up the way they used to. It's not a mystery. It's not "the death of cinema." It's just the market correcting itself because the thing theaters offered stopped being special enough to justify the cost and hassle of getting it.

Print newspapers went through the exact same thing. For decades, if you wanted news, you bought a paper or you didn't get news. Then the internet showed up and suddenly you could get the same information, updated constantly, for free. People acted like the death of print journalism was some kind of cultural catastrophe. Some parts of the industry are worth mourning. But most of it was just obsolete infrastructure finally getting retired.

Rideshare is next in that line. Waymo doesn't need a driver. It doesn't get tired, it doesn't need a break, it doesn't need a cut of the fare to make rent. Once the tech is reliable enough, and it's getting there fast, there's no logical reason to keep paying a human to do a job a machine can do cheaper, more consistently, and arguably more safely. I don't say that to be cold. I say it because it's true, and pretending otherwise doesn't help anybody plan for what's actually coming.

As someone with a disability and a service dog (AKA guide dog), I've been canceled on by numerous Lyft/Uber drivers who didn't want a dog in their car. They signed up for a job where they transport people, and when some of those people cannot drive themselves and depend on a service animal to get around safely, or detect medical issues, etc., then they don't want to do the work. Sorry, but I don't have that issue with Waymo. The car isn't going to discriminate against me for my disability or special needs. So, I don't feel sorry for drivers who will lose the work, because the drivers are part of the problem to begin with. If you want to pick and choose who you let in your vehicle, start your own private taxi service.

Here's the thing people keep missing: not every dying industry deserves a rescue mission. Some things stick around out of nostalgia, not necessity. The cost of propping them up, whether that's ticket prices, subscription fees, or fares, has to come from somewhere, and usually it comes from the people who can least afford to pay a premium for something that's no longer actually the best option.

Movie theaters, print newspapers, human-driven rideshare: these things had their run. They served a purpose when there was no better way to do the job. Now there is, and it's okay to let them go. It's not sentimental, it's not brutal, it's just what progress looks like when you're honest about it.

What about the loss of jobs? I don't know. I don't have a solution for the loss of jobs from these industries going away. What I do know is that keeping these businesses running as they are doesn't justify the costs involved, either for the businesses operating them or for the consumers using them.

Should we keep paying exorbitant fees for popcorn, movie tickets, printing, fuel, and everything else that comes with these outdated setups, so some people can keep their jobs? Not when there are far less expensive and more convenient alternatives.

Should I keep enduring being left hanging by rideshare drivers who didn't bother reading that I, as the passenger, travel with a service animal, so those drivers can keep their jobs?

We didn't keep other old industries alive for sentiment's sake. Blacksmiths gave way to auto manufacturing. Telegraph operators gave way to the telephone. Icehouse deliverymen gave way to the refrigerator. Elevator operators gave way to a button on the wall. Each of those jobs mattered, right up until something better made them unnecessary. Nobody's out here demanding we bring back the icehouse.

For movie theaters and traditional rideshare, it's time to let go of them too. Somehow, it'll be okay.