I’ll be the first to admit that I’m OCD just like
the rest of us. We all have it in one form or another.
The #1 things that are driving me nuts right now are
push notifications and mobile app alerts. It seems like
every time I look down at my iphone, another “red alert”
pops up!

While I greatly appreciate it when technology improves,
and I understand we have recently sped up the Moore’s
Law process it’s still a pain in my ass. I rely on
social media such as facebook, twitter and linkedin
to generate leads for my business. I’m always excited
when one of those apps goes off, but lately I’m getting
sick of being fooled by the “red herring” of other nonessential
apps going off and updating.

The #1 culprit of this is the app store itself. I’m pretty
sure apple must get paid per update. The app store is constantly
pimping updates out to me. Now I know this is not the end
of the world. There are people starving everywhere and the
economy sucks for some folks. BUT this shit still drives
me nuts!

I propose that apple only allow updates to come out once a
week. Better yet, once a month! Mobile apps are the coolest
invention of my life time, so I am 1000% addicted to downloading
the latest and greatest tools to make my life easier. After
all that is what it is all about right? Having an easier more
convenient life? Well we all know that for every action on Earth
there is an equal or greater reaction. So the iphone and android
phones save us time in one spot, but rob us of that same time with
constant red alerts!

Sometimes I feel like Pavlov’s Dogs. The red alert goes off,
I look down and check my phone. I have turned off every notification
I can, under the “settings” menu in each app. Still they persevere on.

One of the cool things I have been doing and I encourage you to
do as well, is send feed back to the app developers. I recently
sent an email to PTCH and they swiftly responded and helped me out.
Now they ask me for info on their stuff. It’s a kinda cool feeling.

Truthfully there is nothing we can do about it. As a marketing
“insider” I see a huge rush to the app market, just to be able
to send push notification messages like spam email. Get ready
folks, it’s just getting started. But don’t get me wrong, I’m
extremely thankful for mobile apps. They have forever changed
my life. For the better or worse is still out for debate.
Nevertheless I’m changed ;-)

Here is this week’s rant. Enjoy it and share it with a friend.