I lived in Russia during the time when slot machines were literally standing in the open on the streets, and yes, mentally infirm people were wasting themselves on them. Normal people did not.
It requires one to completely lack logic reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of a slot machine is to waste his or her time and money.
The same way, it requires a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of a smartphone app throwing 20 bling bling popups per second on you isn't different.
You don't need to be a genius to understand that clickfarming app must be removed, and to do so.
My former high school classmate who did not manage to leave Russia is running a typical "smartphone fixer" kiosk. He said few years ago that the most common request he gets from people is to "remove Google nagware and lock, block or delete Google Pay" so their child will never ever buy anything "in that Internet thing"
At least Chinese and Russian parents understood long ago that Google's business is all about "pocket slot machines (this is how people really call smartphones there)." Why wouldn't American parents do that too?
The problem is that it's not the "clickfarming" apps that are the real danger for the majority of people, I'd argue it's the endless algorithmically tailored content and social media streams most of us consume. The ones that fill our every - otherwise - idle moment with something to distract us with.
I spend at least as much time on HN as Facebook these days. (My relationship with HN is fine but my relationship with my phone is not as healthy as I feel it should be.) I think the problem is related to the fleeting mental rewards of surprising information, not any particular application. Perhaps the product of all available applications.
People going to casino with a genuine belief that they will win.
Casino — a business specifically mathematically engineered to make sure that nobody wins against a casino, to maximize your losses, and to make money from it. By the very definition, nobody "wins" against it. Yet, some people still come and play.
Same thing with google pocket slot machine — the very reason they link the game to your bank account is to milk money from you, or god forbid, your children.
I lived in Russia during the time when slot machines were literally standing in the open on the streets, and yes, mentally infirm people were wasting themselves on them. Normal people did not.
It requires one to completely lack logic reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of a slot machine is to waste his or her time and money.
The same way, it requires a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of a smartphone app throwing 20 bling bling popups per second on you isn't different.
You don't need to be a genius to understand that clickfarming app must be removed, and to do so.
My former high school classmate who did not manage to leave Russia is running a typical "smartphone fixer" kiosk. He said few years ago that the most common request he gets from people is to "remove Google nagware and lock, block or delete Google Pay" so their child will never ever buy anything "in that Internet thing"
At least Chinese and Russian parents understood long ago that Google's business is all about "pocket slot machines (this is how people really call smartphones there)." Why wouldn't American parents do that too?