Graham Spencer pulled together this terrific piece for MacStories, all about the massive, spectacular launch of Pokémon Go. Scroll to the bottom for some video and pictures showing the crowds of P-Goers plying their craft. This is much more than a disruption. This is more of a chaotic wave, a wave that rapidly changes societal behavior.
We’ve seen chaotic waves before. Think back to the early days of the iPod. There was massive adoption, evidenced by the sudden, widespread appearance of those distinctive white headphones. People were walking down the street in their own little bubble, listening to music. The disruption was the change this brought to the music industry. The chaotic wave was the societal change brought by the iPod.
The iPhone had a similar chaotic wave. But neither wave was as sudden as that of Pokémon Go. The question is, will this new wave last.
I have had the best time playing this game with my children. We’ve gone on walks around our neighborhood, around one of the local colleges, around the mall, and met other children and adults playing along. Everyone has been been cordial, like we’re all one big nerd family. I have read people complaining about the game (don’t play while driving, come on!) but I see so much more good in the encouraged social interactions.
Back in my day we went geocaching and found actual real-world objects. Kids these days.
I am actually still playing Munzee with the kids – like a cross between PGo and Geocaching. At least now people just assume I’m playing PGo…
I would say this is completely different from the iPod or iPhone. Millions and millions of users day one can’t be compared to a two year ramp up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod#/media/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg
I also believe the wave will be over at the latest by the end of summer.