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Comment by LegitShady | Hacker News Reader

i think they're talking about pokemon go, where people would wander around like zombies and enter into places that may or may not want them there to "collect" pokemon

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Ah, but it was not like zombies! It was actually a very social phenomenon. I played during that summer (2016?) after not thinking about Pokémon for 15+ years. It was "dumb" but it was cool to have a shared mission, however arbitrary, with so many others. Coworkers pooling money to buy lures, strangers on the street recognizing what you were doing and pointing you the right way wishing good luck, massive groups in city parks.

You are correct that respect for private property or business purpose was likely violated by Pokémon Go players. But "zombie" is not a good description.

Sometimes I wonder. Did nobody end up someplace they shouldn't have been as kids/teens/young adults, even without Pokemon Go leading them there?

I was just looking at my phone while walking down the street, not even playing Pokémon Go, and a group of people on the other side called out and said, "Hey, there's a Poliwhirl just up the road there." I felt like I had entered into a new, bizarre, wonderful social reality.

I was a bystander to this, but I was always amused to see flocks of doting grandparents (I presume) with clipboards of 2-6 phones in the park by my house during school hours...

More Consoomers than Zombies.

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