Scaling (and the efficiency that comes with it) is part of the problem, as a matter of fact, it's what normal people actually hate when they see articles about stuff like these bike gizmos, they know that they target scaling- and efficiency-obsessed tech guys, guys that have created much of the problems that most of the normal people are now in. It's the "Google bus guys in San Francisco" situation extended slowly and surely to the whole planet.
Normal people hate that simple and enjoyable stuff like bikes were until not that long ago have become a topic of interest for tech-oriented media entities like Ars Technica.