Twenty years ago, the thought of online businesses actually changing the dynamics of society, as it was known then, would have been unfathomable. Today, however, this couldn’t be more of a reality. One prime example of this kind of society-changing innovation is Uber. Twenty years ago, taxis were the widely accepted alternative to the service that Uber provides today. While taxis functioned perfectly fine for the time in which they were implemented, there certainly were still problems involved with the service they provided. Uber eliminates most of the problems that taxis were faced with, and now has dominated their market through making ride service available through the internet. Uber has grown throughout the years to become an industry leader under the prosumer business model. A prosumer business model is one that provides ways for people to be consumers as well as producers with the company. People use Uber, not only has a rider, but also as a job in which people can use their own cars to transport people. Therefore, people can use Uber to either consume or produce the service it provides.

With the dramatic change to the ride service industry that Uber incorporated into society, there are new innovations that Uber is incorporating that only mean the company will continue to progress. One of these innovations is self-driving cars. The company has begun the testing of self-driving cars in select areas in the country. Since they are still in testing, a driver still needs to be behind the wheel, just in case something goes wrong. While this is still in testing, Bob Terhune, who does product development for Uber, said that he sees driverless cars being used by Uber within the next few years. With this innovation, Uber has the potential to make a serious impact on how people transport today. Along with Uber, innovations across e-commerce everywhere are making other innovations that impact society in their own ways, and doing it fast. With that being said, imagine what the next 20 years will bring.