Technology has always been disruptive. The huge investment by the canal builders of Europe was destroyed within decades by the arrival of the railways. The advent of the motorcar brought ruin to the horse, to the huge networks of stables, saddlers and farriers that had existed for some 2,000 years since the days of the Roman Empire. The arrival of affordable air travel sent fleets of passenger liners to the scrapyards.

In the eyes of many, “disruptive” would be an understatement when applied to social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Everywhere young people are looking down into their mobiles, their fingers flying over onscreen keyboards, as they keep in touch with friends and acquaintances out on the web. It is only older people who consider it offensive to be in the company of someone who is clearly not completely focused on those he or she is with. Younger people seem capable of having face-to-face conversations with their friends while simultaneously keeping in touch with hundreds of others through their smart phones.

The technology behind Uber has been equally disruptive but has stirred up unusually angry resistance from those whose jobs have been endangered by the ride-hailing app. In some capital cities, taxi drivers have left much to be desired. The classic stories are of the Bangladeshi yellow cab driver in New York who had only marginal English and the Portuguese taxi driver in Paris who had only the vaguest idea of the city’s geography. In other cities such as London, taxi drivers have been heavily regulated and can only qualify to drive a black cab after they have spent months on scooters traveling around the English capital’s streets learning “the Knowledge”.

The arrival of in-car sat-nav means that, in theory, anyone can find their way anywhere, and even be able to avoid any delays because they can receive real-time updates on traffic jams. But Uber and the other currently less successful ride-hail apps have been attacked for the roadworthiness of their vehicles and the reliability of their drivers. Cases in which Uber drivers have been accused of murder, rape and robbery have seized the headlines, most recently with the death of a young British diplomat in Beirut. Meanwhile, Uber itself has been accused of spying on rivals, hacking opposition systems, general dirty tricks and domineering and illegal employment practices. Senior management has changed and the company has apologized for some of the underhand activities of which it has been accused.

Yet Uber’s predominantly young customers around the world in 84 countries and 758 cities, including here in the Kingdom in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province, continue to use the service.

Uber has argued that there is a conspiracy against it. But this week the European Court of Justice ruled against its claim that it was a technology business not a taxi operator. It had been appealing Barcelona’s decision that it was a cab company. It had argued it simply put people in touch with each other. This is surely stretching the truth. It is certainly not the way that most Uber users view the service. They are hailing an Uber driver to take them safely and cheaply to where they want to go. On that basis this company’s public relations would seem in need of a make-uber.