A question for people who may be more plugged in to the mobile app world
than me...
Is there some sort of attrition policy or concerted effort by the big
software and data companies to "break" things on mobile devices'
standard browsers so people will be forced to use apps? And if so, is
it just certain companies, or is everybody doing it?
I got my iPad primarily so I could dictate emails and short bits of
writing. And because the gestures of a touch device are different from a
standard keyboard and mouse combination. All this meant better
distributing the load on my hands, which sometimes get overworked by too
much keyboarding, mousing and bassoon playing. So far, it's worked well.
BUT... ever since iOS 8.1.1, using dictation (aka "Siri") in Facebook
replies generate a long, mixed-up word salad using the words I said, but
chopped up, re-ordered and repeated. I can *originate* a post with
dictation just fine, but not reply. The buttons to edit or delete FB
posts after the fact no longer work, and several other things are
partially broken as well. This all happens with Chrome as well as
Safari. And everything works just fine with the FB app.
The optimist in me says that this is just a by-product of the inevitable
bugs in a huge project like the iOS upgrade. The cynic in me says that
this is all about steering us towards apps, where our behavior can be
ever more deliberately tabulated, analyzed and sold to advertisers, and
our eyeballs ever-more-cleverly and frequently diverted to what "they"
want us to see. Recently FB said that as of November, they were going
to send data about users' browsing habits to their "affiliates and
partners," even when the users were not on FB. And indeed, the most
recent versions of the FB app run in the background, even after you've
closed the app. I confirmed this with a system checker app I have. And
FB now knows" when I have new notifications even when the app is
supposedly closed.
That's why I deleted the app a while back. But today, I got fed up with
the problem (not fixed in iOS 8.1.2), and I loaded the FB app again. So
I guess they've got me just where they want me.
Add to this a recent experience I had. I needed a case for my bassoon
bocals (the bent silver tube that goes between the reed and the
instrument). Bocal cases from a music store cost $60 and up. But a
just-as-good alternative is $15 pistol case. I did a Google search for
said pistol case. I backed out of the first site when it asked me for my
date of birth and to donate money to preserve my Second Amendment
rights. I eventually bought the case on Amazon. Now whenever I go on
Amazon, they try to sell me a gun. Not only that, eBay did the same
thing a few times. How did they know? "They" are not supposed to look at
each other's cookies, but I guess they do. Or somehow in IP address I
went to looking for the pistol case got interpreted as "this guy is a
gun owner." Or some other under-the-hood thing. Regardless of how,
it's creepy.
It seems to me that within a app, the safeguards are less, and "they"
can engage in more creepy behavior which is harder to detect or
prevent. I don't wish to don a tinfoil hat, but I'm starting to get a
more and more suspicious of apps. It seems like in return for a smoother
"experience," we get to give up more and more of our information. They
have sneakier and sneakier ways of getting it, and it will be used in
all sorts of ways.
So what should I do? Fight? Give up the Internet? Take my Soma and be
happy?
--Peter
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