On rides with Cody Jones, passengers can use his Wi-Fi to check their emails, drink the bottled water he offers for free and decide, using a tablet, Bluetooth and Spotify, what the radio will play during their trip. And they can find Jones with the tap of a finger on a smartphone screen.

Jones, a University of North Carolina Wilmington student, is a driver for Uber, an app-based transportation service that arrived in Wilmington about five weeks ago bringing UberX, its lower cost option, to the area.

Uber is an example of an app that connects users directly with services, in this case rides provided by a driver using his or her personal car. Such tools are gaining more attention as businesses compete for digital innovation dollars. Some industries are scrambling to cope with the potential effects of app- and Internet-based competitors like Uber and airbnb, a vacation rental resource, while others don’t see them as a threat.

Locally, Port City Taxi Inc. has not experienced a drop in business since Uber drove into town, said co-owner Deborah Thomas. The company has provided taxi services in the Wilmington area since 1979.

“Sometimes people prefer to talk to a live operator,” Thomas said, citing one of the benefits a traditional taxi company provides.

For many of the company’s regular customers, getting a ride is still as easy as a quick touch because they’ve programmed Port City Taxi’s phone number into their smartphones, she said.

“We’re not going to wipe taxis off the face of the planet. If you go downtown right now, you can still get a ride in a horse and buggy,” Jones said. “What we’re looking at here is just a change in the market share. It’s going to happen because these kinds of companies are just too good of an idea.”

Kathy Walsh of Carolina Beach wasn’t convinced, at first, that it would be a good idea to rent a room in the house she shares with her husband, Rich, to vacationers. But she changed her mind, Rich Walsh said, after doing some research and finding airbnb, a service where owners can list the rooms, apartments or homes they want to offer for rent to people passing through.

“A lot of people are looking to come on vacation and do it at a reasonable price,” said Rich Walsh, who moved to the beach with his wife in 2008 after they retired.

Renting The Lighthouse Room, as the Walshes call the space they offer, comes with access to the couple’s pool and outdoor grill. The total charge for a one-night stay in September, with the $7 service fee collected by airbnb, was $66, including the sales and room-occupancy taxes the Walshes pay. About half of The Lighthouse Room’s guests only need to stay there one night, often as they’re traveling to a destination farther south or north, Rich Walsh estimated.

Services like airbnb cut out the part rental agencies often play by giving vacation planners direct access to homeowners while offering some safety nets, such as giving the Walshes the ability to say no to reservation requests.

On July 25, the Lighthouse Room listing had 31 positive reviews at airbnb. Reviews are one of the ways apps like Uber and airbnb let users know what to expect. Jones said Uber passengers and drivers rate each other, giving both parties the information they need to decide whether the transaction will take place. Jones’ driver rating was 4.94 out of 5 on July 25. For Jones, the job is helping him stay afloat as he pursues a degree in biology from UNCW in hopes of earning a medical degree in the future. Drivers keep 80 percent of
the fare, while Uber gets 20 percent, Jones said.

“It’s in our best interests to maintain the best rating we can,” he said.

Jones said in the 100 or so trips he’s made as an Uber driver, users have fallen into two groups – travelers from other, bigger cities where Uber is in wide use and college-aged people who “are constantly looking for new apps in the app store. They fall in love with it and tell all their friends. It’s definitely spreading that way quite a bit.”

Thomas said she has considered creating an app for Port City Taxi Inc. and might do so again in the future. But for now, she said, the company is sticking with its computerized dispatch system.

In the end, Thomas said, “How well you serve your customers determines whether or not you keep your customers.”