The app incident
I went to buy something today, in a physical store. Suddenly, at pay time, while I was focused on finding the purse on my bag, the assistant asked something that I didn't get:
"grnrbgmrbg app?"
"Sorry?"
"Have you downloaded our app?"
I looked at him, my hands clutching my purse about to be open to pay. Your app? Why would I...?, I wondered for a second. But my honesty won over politeness and hypocrisy:
"No."
"Oh..."
I felt that final sting of doubt, of restraint--do I, do I not? But this was the equivalent of flashing a full screen banner before I type in my credit card number at check out time in an online shop. An unwelcome interruption. Awful.
"And I won't. Because it's pointless."
"Is that because you don't have an smartphone?"
"No, it's because I don't want your app. What's the point? I don't need it. And I am sorry that you have to ask this."
"It's OK"
No, it's not OK. It's not OK for you and it's not OK for me. It's wholly stupid.
Stores of the world, I am NOT going to download your app.
What about you fix your websites instead so they are usable on small screens, and not a mess of tables and banners and badly broken JavaScript drop down menus?
We will be talking business then.