So I joined a new gym last year and was pleasantly surprised. They gave me a smart card to get in and out, that’s it, no app, no accounts, no nothing. Well, today I got to the gym and saw the announcement that they are phasing out the access with the smart card and starting to use, you guessed it, an app.
Now, I know this is not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But I’m just tired of this trend of replacing perfectly functioning systems with apps (public transport tickets come to mind). Just more ways to harvest people’s data, I guess…
Ah and by the way, in my previous gym they not only required an app for accessing the place, they also incentivized people to track their workouts, meals and bodyweight using the gym’s app (of course I never used any of these features).
i hate apps as well, but there is some efficiency gained in not having to manage the infrastructure required for ‘cards’. its not always about the data mining.
i have ‘utility’ device that is an old cell phone with no cellular access used for this kind of nonsense. i also use it for music (pseudo-ipod)
For not having some infra managing “cards”, to have some infra managing app instead. Let’s be real, that infra (and managing work) most likely is being out sourced to another company. I think the “efficiency gained” is minimal, but rather the cost to operate. With apps, they can recoup some cost by selling your data.
Great use for an old phone! I have some lying around. This is one of those forehead-slapping moments for me.