what if drivers painted their cars a distinct color, like yellow maybe, and they were always out there... and you could just spot them on the street and wave your arm, and they'd come get you? you wouldn't need an app for that, and wait around for them to show up.
Tried that. Didn't work well - you never knew if you could find one, they often refused trips to places they didn't like, they would cheat you on the fare, and it was impossible to get one in a less popular area without calling, and you never knew if they were actually going to come.
You must live somewhere sufficiently dense. In a midsized city life before Uber was awful for getting a late night taxi. Have to call a central line, No shows, multi-hour waits, etc.
parent gave five examples of issues they found while using a taxi in the manner you described
you could have just believed them instead of being antagonistic about it, this is especially unnecessary given the topic has a history that supports the experiences the parent poster listed
