No, I don’t want to register to read your online publication. It’s not just that I don’t want to pay you — I am willing to pay for publications I read regularly, though I want to be sure something’s worth it before I commit any money — it’s that I don’t want to set up another account.
I want to read news from a variety of sources, but I don’t want to sign up for every individual one, give every one of them access to some data from me — and no matter how conscientiously I try to eliminate all the data a site collects, I know they’re getting a lot.
Likewise, I don’t want to download your app. I don’t need a different app for every publication I read, every company I do business with. Apps are useful for things like the laundry machines in my building or using iNaturalist to figure out what kind of a plant I’m looking at, but they aren’t useful for everything.
Browsers work fine for reading publications.
I guarantee you that I don’t want to download an app for your hotel that automagically becomes my room key. I mean, I may stay at your hotel again if it’s necessary, but in truth I don’t want to have a relationship with you other than for the nights I’m actually spending there. Continue reading “Never-ending Relationships”…