Push Notifications and Mobile App Alerts Are Enabling My OCD [Ryan’s Rants]

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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.