Posted on 07/12/2016 12:12:27 PM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
Pokémon Go is luring players to landmarks like the 9/11 Memorial and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC — sparking outrage from people who think it’s insensitive.
The downtown Manhattan memorial is filled with “PokeStops” — landmarks highlighted by a floating blue cube that gives gamers free items to catch Pokemon — including both reflecting pools, the “This City’s Bravest” plaque and the Survivor Tree.
Modal Trigger A Koffing Pokemon is visible at the National 9/11 Memorial South Pool in New York on July 12, 2016.Photo: Chad Rachman/New York Post “It’s disrespectful to the people who lost families. Playing a game is one thing, but they shouldn’t do it here. This is like a sacred place,” said a 61-year-old Staten Island laborer who helped clean up Ground Zero.
Koffing, a levitating purple monster with a skull and crossbones on its belly, appeared next to the reflecting pool at the memorial Tuesday — right next to the thousands of names of first responders who lost their lives in the Twin Tower bombings.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Well, our church is small and volunteer run. We have no full time staff to wait around for game players to pass out water bottles.
Geocaching has specific property rules. No caches on private land without express permission, not near bridges, tunnels and other security risks etc. This game has no such limitations and seems to encourage trespassing.
Yep, great idea.
Shoot it.
It’s an invasive non-native species.
Whatever.
There’s a restaurant that’s putting out lures and getting people to eat in all day.
Too many modern churches forget how to run a business. Then they cry when attendance drops and they can’t get ‘young people’.
LOLOL
How about having these things available about 20 feet out from the railing at the Empire State Building?
I have been an advocate of personal computer technology since the mid-80’s. But I now have serious issues with it and I am reaching the belief that this is a serious societal Frankenstein.
Sure, I Freep and surf the Internet a lot in the evening or if I go out to dinner by myself, etc. Probably a lot more than most people. Going to and from work, I listen to audiobooks nearly constantly.
But when you go to a party, and see dozens of people with their faces buried in their phones, or go to a family get together and see the same thing (parents and children alike) or you see families or even a young couple at dinner...not looking or talking to each other, but instead gazing down at their phone...I find that deeply and profoundly disturbing.
And this doesn’t even address the millions of people who are on the roads, should be driving, but are instead either talking or texting while their car slowly slides from one side of their highway lane to the other without their seeming to even notice. I don’t find that profoundly disturbing as much as I find it frightening. I have an acquaintance who was a devoted motorcycle rider, had a 20 grand motorcycle, and gave it up completely because it was too nerve-wracking to drive.
I fully recognize that the power of the Internet to obtain or disseminate information and entertainment is revolutionary, and that people who might be housebound now have an avenue of socialization they might not have had before, but I am disturbed by what I see.
I know the Pokemon Go thing is a game, people find it interesting, but...I feel the estrangement of people from the physical world is going to come back and bite us in a way we don’t expect.
Listen to me. I used to be the one everyone looked to for the trends in these things. I guess I really am getting older. Maybe wiser.
I think the game is going to provide a lot of problems...I had to tell two players that I it was not all right to be on my property. I can see thieves using the program as an excuse to case houses to steal from. I cant wait to see some of the law suits against the distributer of the program when a trespasser has an accident or is shot while playing the game.
We are on the same page.
The game is a derivative of “Ingress”, which is a location based (GPS) game that’s been around for a few years. All of the “locations” (Pokestops) in the Pokemon game are from Ingress, just repackaged in a different game.
My point....this isn’t anything new. I played Ingress in DC and visited these “portals” (as Ingress calls them). The originator of Ingress created the game specifically to get his kids up, out and about - instead of playing games on the couch.
I don’t think it is disrespectful at all. It gets you out and looking at things you might not have otherwise. I’ve found many memorials, historic sites, etc. in my own town that I’d no idea existed from playing Ingress.
Why deal with reality when virtual reality is so much nicer?
Everywhere I go, peoples’ faces are riveted to their electronic masters.
I sit on my Harley at a stop light and look around...faces illuminated by the gizmos they have propped below their window, in case cops are looking to.
I was once “merely” vigilant while riding.
Now I’m freaking paranoid.
It certainly cuts into the joy of it.
Or meets a Pokedoberman, in the dark...
Walmart is a hotspot and their business picked up wonderfully this weekend.
Thank you! My 20 year-old son poo-pooed (sp?) my idea.. I knew it was good, though! :)
That appears to be a problem; apparently people are luring players to isolated areas and robbing them. But meeting in a public place might not be so bad.
For instance - restaurant does a lure spot everyday/weekend from 5-7pm. I’d bet they start seeing a lot more business as word got out. - Maybe even facebook/twitter announce it. ‘Happy Hour’ for children, lol?
There you go! Great idea!
Businesses should strike while the iron is hot! Who knows how long this craze will last...
I think for $100 US you can buy several thousand pokepoints, or whatever they are called, and a lure costs much less than that. Not sure, though. Although I have started researching it. :)
That's what I've read as well.
However, I also read that Nintendo is coming out with some other device that doesn't require a smart phone, and doesn't give up all your personal info. I may be wrong, though.
You may be thinking of the “Pokemon Go Plus” device...alerts you to Pokemon & “waypoints”, etc. without having your phone in your face...still, it is a Bluetooth device connected to your phone, and would require you to “log-in” as normal. You can also just sign up at “Pokemon.com” w/your e-mail to be a “trainer” and use that account for Pokemon Go and SKIP the whole Google account sign up stuff.
Pokemon Go Plus: http://www.pokemongo.com/en-us/pokemon-go-plus/
There’s now discussion among our local bars to make a Pokemon bar crawl. :)
My daughter is thinking about chauffeuring people around to the hot spots in her spare time. lol!
Another great idea! LOL!
My daughter is thinking about chauffeuring people around to the hot spots in her spare time. lol!
Marie, you have quite the enterprising daughter! LOL!
Good for her! I wish her good luck. :)
If I wanted to play this game, I would certainly avoid signing up for a Google account ... they collect WAY too much information and who knows who will see it.
Again, my children think I'm paranoid ... but I would prefer to err on the side of privacy.
Thanks for the info, FRiend! :)
I have a dummy acct for junk mail and I use that.
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