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> The Government Uses Targeted Advertising to Track Your Location. Here's What We Need to Do.

It's never popular when I post this, but I'm just going to do it again:

"No matter the risk, I must carry my smartphone everywhere and install every app. It would be unimaginable to have the urge to look something up, but then wait to do it later until I'm using a real computer. No negative outcome will EVER shake my deep, permanent need to carry a smartphone all the time and use it for as much as possible."

We've done this to ourselves, and we're terrified at even the most minor inconvenience. It's something I can't wrap my head around, but people cannot bear to just wait until they get home to query something on the internet. They MUST have access ALL THE TIME, no matter the downside. It's baffling.

> No matter the risk

People don’t necessarily know the risk. Some do, and as someone on HackerNews you are in a space of such people who are more likely to know, but I don’t think the average person knows just how deep risks go.

> We've done this to ourselves, and we're terrified at even the most minor inconvenience

> It's baffling.

> I am quite angry and perplexed at why people have backed themselves into this corner

I don’t think this framing is quite right. It puts the onus of the problem onto the people and solely frames it as something people do, leaving out anything else. I don’t know if that’s how you meant it, but that’s how it comes off.

It’s baffling that people would push themselves into the corner because that’s not the full story. At least in part, they are being pushed into that corner; it’s not just something they do but something being done to them.

That’s what marketing, and at least some aspects of design, are. A company wants people to know about and use their product, and they want people to keep on using their product. Taken farther along, this leads to desires becoming needs or addictions. This can happen with many technologies, products, etc., phones included.

I don’t think it’s as baffling that people are drawn towards using a product excessively when there are millions to billions of dollars alongside time and effort put towards getting people to go down that path