We tried the Domino’s app once, because they had a ‘half off’ deal for a medium pizza if we used the app. Oh boy that was a load of shit, by the time we got there, they doubled the original price just because we used the app, then gave us half off the doubled price.
So it was basically a scam where they got our information, and we still ended up paying full price. SCREW THAT!
The current generation is now showerthoughting the same thing people used to say about credit cards.
The difference is when credit cards were introduced their business model was charging customers interest and businesses fees.
Now the business model is making customer profiles to sell to advertisers, insurance companies and anyone else who is willing to buy the data. I don’t want every business I use to be collecting all this information.
After a certain point, wouldn’t a company have all the relevant information for a set of people? What happens then?
It’s not “a set of people” anymore it’s you, and there is always more data.
Buy some doughnuts for the office… your health insurance just went up.
You buy a new car which has fancy connected features, but now it sells your driving safety score to your car insurance company.
Buy a vegan ready meal, both vegan food companies and the meat industry compete for your business, you might get a few discounts, but your free will is being influenced.
Credit card companies know where you are spending your money, but not what you are buying.
They have been selling your data but it’s less valuable in the world of store apps and online stores where every search and purchase is linked to your email. Still worth opting out of any “data sharing” options your Credit Card company has though.
That is the plan. Imagine an app that can provide personalized pricing to extract just less than the amount that would cause you to go elsewhere?
It knows when you get paid and can splurge. It knows when you are drunk or high and have less self control. It’s the digital pricing tags at the grocery store, but personalized to you (and not with your best interests in mind).
I have considered getting a burner phone that I pay for in cash only, having it utterly unconnected from my real life, and turned off and stored in a Faraday wallet when not in use just so I can use the ‘digital coupons’ that food retailers keep pushing. I use a loyalty card because all they get from that is my buying habits–groceries–plus an address. But access to my phone? Absolutely not.
I tried this. I bought a phone with cash, bought a prepaid SIM with cash and a google play card with cash.
Used a throwaway email address, and I could not get the play credit into the account.
I even opened a support ticket with google and they could not help.
I am an IT professional and quite adept at navigating technical bureaucracy and wasn’t able to do it completely anonymously.
My guess (and it’s just a guess, i could be very wrong) is there is some internal, undocumented check that the account has been tied to a real person before it allows credit onto the play store.
If someone has had success doing this I’d be quite interested in hearing about their experience.
But what if I don’t want credit in the Play store? What if I want to use the Graphene OS, and side load everything?
Once Elon evolves X to the everything app, we will finally enjoy what is what you describe and what is already the case in China.
I was there a month ago and we were driving through some rural area and the bus stopped so people can go to the toilet. There was a seller selling dried fruits in small plastic bags. I wanted to buy some and I had some cash on me, but the only way to pay was to use WeeChat and the QR code he had there.
Oh hell nah. We as a society really need to collectively understand the value of crypto is not an investment. It was made to be a tool to combat stuff like these everything apps from ever becoming mandatory.
I swear on my life if we ever have to use an everything app in the US I am going to jump off the nearest bridge. Bad enough already with how much the banks control our money and where it can go. We do NOT need another third party getting in the way.
