Convenience — The Slow Rendering of Control
What is the best and easiest way to get someone to do or accept something they wouldn’t naturally want?
Make it more convenient than the alternative.
Whether it is:
“All your friends are using this app” or
“Everyone has an email account with us” or
“This new currency will make it so you never need cash” or
“Our service is so easy to use, you don’t even need to learn anything new”
Just make it convenient and you have a leg up on your competition.
But convenience sometimes means giving up your privacy or limiting your security. And it almost always means giving yourself less control.
That’s because convenience is the opposite of control.
Consider the apps and services you use — specifically those you think are inconvenient. Notice that you usually have more control over how the app/service works as opposed to the more popular ones that are “super convenient”.
However, sometimes these less popular apps or services are surprisingly convenient too.
Privacy is a choice you should be allowed to make in every service or app you use, and I dare say that the privacy-respecting features should be turned on by default.
Many apps/services turn them off by default then give you the option to turn them on after the first launch. It’s a kind of fake sincerity companies use to collect at least your device ID, country, etc. on first launch.
They know many people will just click “Yes” without reading because all they see is a bunch of boring and inconvenient text.
“Oh look! A shiny blue “Yes” button!” *click*
I say all this to say: If the current or future benefits of using the convenient app/service are greater than the definite loss of control, then by all means, use that thing.
But if the benefits aren’t greater than the loss of control, seek an alternative.
Otherwise, it’s just not worth it.
This mini-article was written using Obsidian - a convenient markdown writing app that offers privacy, security, and control over your writings.
See? You don’t have to sacrifice control for convenience.
I found Obsidian by using AlternativeTo — a great website for finding alternative software (and services) to the ones that you know about.
If you’ve read this far, what are your thoughts? Let’s have a conversation.
Also, if you like my writing style or the topics I address, and you’d like to support me, I am currently writing a graphic novel that tackles greed, politics, love, and revenge. It’s all available on my Patreon/Buy Me A Coffee pages.
Click here or the link on my about page to show your support!
