Doesn’t that actually make the problem worse since high-crime areas tend to be in low-income areas?
And I wanted to point out to you in the other thread, where you said “the only thing stopping people in my neighborhood from playing…” If black neighborhoods have fewer pokestops and gyms, then on average, players who live in such neighborhoods will not do as well at Pokemon Go, will probably not enjoy it as much, and will thus probably play less or be more likely to quit.
Before mobile devices started getting most of the market share for online activities, people talked about a “digital divide” where low-income folks and especially ethnic minorities who tend to be poor had less internet access. The rise of mobile started to overcome this “digital divide”, but I think Pokemon Go and how it sourced its location DB shows how the “digital divide” can be perpetuated as the internet of things and AR become more prevalent.
And this is just about a game so far. When AR starts to provide useful services that generate wealth – by increasing productivity, say – and if those services tend to cluster in wealthy areas, then AR is created a feedback effect where wealth creates more wealth. This would exacerbate our already worrying levels of wealth inequality.
