This is great for the bikes. Think about it, while I'm in the grocery store, my bike can be out on the trails having some fun and working out its bearings. I'll just summon it with my phone about the time I pass the canned veggie aisle, and by the time I finish up (at the UNMANNED check-out, no less), my bike will be crashing into the bike rack at the front of the store. FINALLY, free-range biking!
It will take some time for the general public to get used to riderless bikes whizzing by all the time, the 911 calls to stop, and little kids to forget everything they saw in Bed Knobs and Broomsticks. But it will surely be worth the transition.
This will benefit the poorest members of society. The pan-handlers downtown who are cruising around on bikes all the time can send their bikes out for a riderless ride, and spend more time themselves asking for money. Of course, humans are never really satisfied....about the time everyone has one of these, we'll all be wanting runnerless shoes.
Matt