A Few Random Thoughts about That Pokémon Thing

A game that gets people out of their houses and interacting with one another is a good thing. If all those Farmville players (or whatever the last Big Thing was) actually start talking to other humans, that’s a win. Apparently people are discovering that exercise is a side effect of the game. But…

More of the zombies in the graveyard were in cars tonight. Kind of undoes the good of the previous paragraph, and accelerates global warming at the same time. So far, there’s been a copilot zombie in each car, holding the phone, but we’ll see how long that lasts.

This may be the first real game-changer in the internet era that wasn’t funded and first used by the porn industry.

I think my next novel will be about a serial killer who lights houses on fire and then hacks people’s phones to put rare Pokémon prizes inside the inferno.

On that topic, who decides where PokéThings go? Is it some massive computer algorithm that is gathering unprecedented data on human behavior? I think I have my novel after the next one. Pokémon Go is like SkyNet, except instead of trying to wipe out humanity, it will just lead them around chasing colorful little monsters, unwittingly doing the AI’s legwork, pointing their cameras were the PokéBeast wants to see.

Or maybe the next Augmented Reality game will be Grand Theft Auto Go. Steal that Ferrari and deliver it to this address and level up!

Will our phones put little Pikachus next to the Trump button in the voting stalls? Or will people just forget to put their phones down and cast their vote while Google watches? So many questions…

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