The taxi services in every single city has had a 100 year head start and if that can be completely disrupted by a phone app, perhaps they, as an industry, has not performed to the customer's expectations.  
Once the customer was offered a choice, there were those that took that opportunity to travel in a different method.  
I can understand the taxi industry being outraged, and the playing field should be somewhat level with regards to upkeep of cabs and scrutiny of drivers, but, one can't really say that the cab system was perfect either.