"And it has had nothing to do with hype or coolness."
That's right, it has to do with allowing oneself to get on board with the booming sharing economy.   It's thriving and it's here to stay.   Millenials are leading this change and have rapidly adopted these business models.  That generation is bigger than baby boomers.   
I don't want to feel far behind with shades drawn.  It took me a long time to finally get a smart phone and realized how silly stubborn that was.   Haven't had opportunity to use Uber, but know several who do and like it.  I have used Airbnb twice with good results.