PAGE 24 • June 2020 •
TABLE HOPPING
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, CALL (315) 474-1011
not the best pedagogically, this particular app gave you daily (or as often as you wished) small language lessons in a number of by NANCY ROBERTS popular - and even some obscure - language. One day, “hearts” appeared. If you made a mistake (the very essence of learning) you lost a heart. If you lost all your “hearts,” the only way back into the lesson was, you guessed Perhaps I’m coming late to this game, but in the many years I’ve had a surfeit of apps it, buy more hearts. on my phone (I still can’t come around to the nomenclature “app” for a program on my Frustrated students computer), they have either been free (with some in-app purchases), or have been a might say, oh, what the heck and turn over their credit card or PayPal information, only one-time purchase, though again may have had upgrades and/or in-app purchases. to make it easier the next time you lost all your hearts for simply learning the way Now it seems the formula is subscription. And, caveat emptor, but your subscriptions humans learn, by making mistakes and correcting them, to buy your way out of lesson may be yearly, or monthly - and they will usually come with a “free trial” period, after jail. which be very careful to cancel if you don’t want to continue the app. It’s easy to miss the Of course, most of us are tuned in to the game of, well, games. With many interactive “monthly” fee, at up to $15 or so, as opposed to a yearly fee of the same amount. games your download is free, but within short order you discover that if you run out of Most of us are aware that things like dating apps, or streaming services will be “lives” or want to open a new “level,” you either have to wait, or you can buy your way out recurring charges. We’re probably not as primed for a very limited photo manipulation of Game Jail. \ service, or a silly app that changes your voice to charge $12.99 - per month. Now, curmudgeon that I am, I don’t begrudge app makers a fee for their services. A QR code scanner app maker is raking in (as of 3 years ago) over $10 million a year Getting a good app to work well, getting found and used regularly is an achievement, to perform a utilitarian function I might have paid $5 to download and keep and use and they should be rewarded. But I’ll be honest: I’d rather pay a little more upfront and forever not that long ago. kick myself for a bad choice later than try to get out of a recurring charge on something I Another game that I dislike very much is changing the rules of use after you’ve rarely use or wasn’t satisfied with. become a regular user of the app. Take one that teaches a language. Nicely organized, if For iPhone apps , if you are subscribed to an app and wish to un-sub, go to your settings, and under your name you’ll find Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes and App Store. Hit the arrow, and you’ll find your subscriptions . Using that, you’ll be able to unsubscribe from most applications, with the helpful alert that if you’re prepaid for a month, you can use the app to the end of the month. For some applications, particularly online, I’ve found that I can’t simply go to the location where I signed up and end my subscription. I have to actually call the customer service number and be put through the sales pitch of why I shouldn’t end my affiliation. Needless to say, the prospect of going through that keeps many of us subscribed. Hmm, maybe there’s a business model in that - for less than the cost of one month’s subscription, I’ll call for you, and put up with the haranguing for you, results guaranteed. Happy apping!
Computers & the Web
Apps, Glorious Apps
