80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas of at least 2500 people, and 71% live in places of 50,000 or more[1]. So most people don't need to drive 20 miles to reach town.
You're right that Silicon Valley lives in a cocoon, but more than a few occasions where I thought a SV idea or trend was stupid, unaffordable, and unneeded, it turned out that a few years later the entire world had adopted it. I remember thinking who the hell needs a smartphone and who'd pay for that. Then 6 or 7 years later I saw beggars in a third-world country with smartphones. Beggars.
I'm not ready to say that autonomous cars and ride sharing will be the norm in 5 years, but just because there are poor and rural people in middle America doesn't mean it won't happen.
You're right that Silicon Valley lives in a cocoon, but more than a few occasions where I thought a SV idea or trend was stupid, unaffordable, and unneeded, it turned out that a few years later the entire world had adopted it. I remember thinking who the hell needs a smartphone and who'd pay for that. Then 6 or 7 years later I saw beggars in a third-world country with smartphones. Beggars.
I'm not ready to say that autonomous cars and ride sharing will be the norm in 5 years, but just because there are poor and rural people in middle America doesn't mean it won't happen.
[1] https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ua/urban-rural-2010.htm...