I never got into Pokemon, but if say Nintendo released "Zelda Go", I still wouldn't play it.

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/12/12159304/p … os-android

Even NPR had a big story about this, and "experts" came to talk about virtual vs augmented reality. One of the points one person was making was how "great" it is to be able to play with others, and you're not in your own little universe such as with say virtual reality. I kept thinking "well, if I want to play or be with others, I'll do just that. When I play a video game I want to be in my own little Universe"... but you know, I'm getting old and cynical... but of course wise beyond measure...

Because apparently it's fun, according to everyone I know who's tried it?

I mean, it's free, so you could check it out.  Or jump on a message board and sound like an angry and bitter person who can't understand why others do things for enjoyment without actually trying it out yourself. 

(I downloaded it to check it out, but servers aren't up in Japan so I haven't been able to try it out)

I don't care about Pokemon, but EVERYONE is talking about this, so I at least want to try it.
But yeah, like Qui-Gon said, it's not up in Japan yet...

And yeah, Avatar, are there any things you DO like? ;p

I like cats, and dogs, and giraffes, hyenas, turtles, porpoises, ocelots, birds, trees...

I have no interest in trying PG. However, I've never been interested in online games nor multiplayer components to most games.  Still, seems a bit crazy to me all the brouhaha with the game. Oh, and as Jay had noted in another thread, get ready for people to do stupid things, because why bother watching the road when there's a Pokey-thing nearby??

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/07/14/ … inues.html

“Death by Pokemon is coming,” warns Gerry Beyer, Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law. “Pokemon users will have all sorts of accidents as they use the program while walking, biking, driving, etc.”

"“As you battle, train, and capture your Pokemon just remember you’re still in the real world!,” warned San Francisco Police Department, in a Facebook post Tuesday. Other law enforcement agencies have already reported accidents, injuries and robberies where suspects have used the game to lure victims, it added."

Yeah, it seems like an accident waiting to happen, but so far it has only lead to people actually discovering corpses.

http://kotaku.com/pokemon-go-players-fi … 1783705603

And the occasional riot:

http://kotaku.com/cops-called-eggs-thro … 1783621904

Finding bodies is one thing, but causing massive amounts of noise to people that are trying to relax and get some sleep is another. Can't say I really blame the Aussies for getting angry, although hopefully people will chill. Also, throwing water balloons on obnoxious Pokemon players... somehow, that sounds rather just. Still, things are bound to get, interesting. Also, there's a Pokemon bar craw in PA. As if PA isn't the armpit of New England already...

https://www.facebook.com/events/1042708609110006/

On the other hand...

"How do you make citizens and Olympic tourists forget about pollution, corruption, violence, Zika, financial shortages, mutilated body parts and security threats? ...we get them to walk around Rio with their heads buried in their smartphones trying to capture imaginary, fictional creatures?"

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/pokem … 40449.html

'Pokemon Go' at the Olympics in Brazil? Rio mayor hopes so

Olympic Fail

I don't care about Pokemon Go! as well, but I don't have a smartphone so I couldn't play it if I wanted to.

It's 2016 and I'm fine with my plebeian-ass flip phone. I just refilled the minutes. $100 worth of mins is enough to last me a year. I'm sure things like GPS would be handy or using the net to compare prices, but when I hear people complain about their cell phone bill I'm glad I don't have to deal with that.

i just inherited my first smart phone,, shana's old iphone 4s.
she wanted to play pokemon of course and it was incompatible with the 2012 model.

Is it an iphone? Rule of thumb is that anything Apple makes, is by default overpriced by 2-300%. Their phones average $650, while an Android phone is about $250. What can an iphone do that an android can not? Not much. However, apple sure knows how to sucker people into paying heaps o' moolah for their good looking products.

yes,, my apologies for not being more clear with the "shana's old iphone 4s" statement.

i let the prepaid $100/yr contract expire on my 2007 flipphone expire 2 years ago, although i still kept it in my bike bag because i could still us it for 911 in an emergency. now we switched to a shared plan that costs the same as her old individual one. i'm pretty much just going to use it for the camera (yay i can take panoramic pics) when i'm out MTBing. i have no interest in apps, games, and the other stuff

Oops, guess that's what happens when you're tired

iPhones cost about as much as Android phones with comparable hardware, like the Samsung Galaxy and Sony XPeria series. It's not so much that Apple sells overpriced hardware (a bit maybe, but certainly not by a factor of 2-3) as that they tend not to sell low-end hardware.

Beyond the cost being or not being correct, I think Avatar has a point. A lot of people do buy Apple products as a status symbol.

The thing is, most people do NOT need the "hardware" that's on their phones. They can do the same thing for much less. Apple is like "Rolex" and "Bose" in that they know how to sell their product to people that want that apple laptop because it's got the word "apple" on it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/japanese-o … 12293.html

heh...

http://abc7news.com/news/man-fatally-sh … o/1460666/

Family: Man fatally shot while playing Pokemon Go in San Francisco

Although does not sound as if Pokemon had anything directly to do with it. Just people being assholes (aka people)...