Further, if Apple were truly concerned with the quality of the apps in their store they would free developers from having to submit apps just to support push notifications. Less time reviewing and rejecting apps, less "low quality" apps in the store, happier developers, happier users.
Sites could easily only prompt this after you've added them to the home screen. Browsers could, do?, also allow users to set a default of deny all notification requests.
The problem is that developers have to spend a significant amount of time and money to get on iPhones because of Apple's policy here. If browsers and devices fully supported PWAs developers could "write once, run everywhere". Instead we have to build separate apps and deal with separate release processes. It's a huge productivity cost.
PWAs haven't taken off because Apple won't implement full Push API support in Safari thus forcing you to go through the App Store if your web site or application needs push notifications. The App Store then complains if you try to publish an app that just wraps your web site so that you can have push notifications. It's... infuriating.
This 1000x. I spoke to a designer at GitHub specifically about this a few years ago. Their initial concern was over-complicating the UI/UX. There's no doubt they've discussed this internally and I'm very curious what the hold up is.
I am shocked there's no mention of Star Trek in this discussion. And I shall remedy it!
"
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: The economics of the future are somewhat different. You see, money doesn't exist in the 24th century.
Lily Sloane: No money? You mean, you don't get paid?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity. Actually, we're all like yourself and Dr. Cochrane.
"
sama asks, "What can startups do to increase prosperity for everyone?" It's a good question. I think one answer that is not limited to startups, but applies to everyone, is to spread the idea and ideals that embody an egalitarian, post-scarcity, society. Star Trek happens to be an entertaining depiction. It doesn't have much in the way of details when it comes down to it, but it embodies the ideas and values of an egalitarian, post-scarctiy, existence where people don't just sit around all day playing video games, but work to better themselves and the rest of humanity.
Giving people money isn't enough. We need to also promote and live a set of values that will compliment Basic Income. We need to free ourselves from the fear of survival, but we must have the proper mindset and environment to ensure a successful freedom.
So, startups, invent replicators[1] so we can move to a post-scarcity economy and everyone, spread the word that it's time for our society to evolve so we can garner the support required for instituting Basic Income.
I completely agree with sama when he says, "I’m fairly confident that at some point in the future, as technology continues to eliminate traditional jobs and massive new wealth gets created, we’re going to see some version of this at a national scale." Thus this experiment is less about whether Basic Income is a good idea, and more about how to ensure that it is a good idea and implemented successfully. I think you really need to pay attention to perceptions and societal values which requires education (plenty of startup activity here).
1. Spread the word
2. Invent replicators [2]
3. Get the messaging, education, values, mental models, etc right
"I think we need a way to have a faster iteration cycle for trying sociopolitcal ideas."
One of my personal hopes with Basic Income is that it addresses this issue by providing a safety net so that people who's livelihood relies the existence of the status quo can be liberated from the incentive to keep the status quo. For example, our government creates a Department for Homeland Security to address threats. It employs thousands of people. What happens if the threats go away and the department is no longer needed? Suddenly thousands of people are out of a job. That's thousands of people with an incentive to keep the department in business, which requires threats to our homeland security. Multiply this example across not just government institutions but private as well. People have an incentive to keep their gravy train running, even if it does irreparable harm. We need to remove this incentive so we can have faster iteration cycles, not just for socio-political ideas, but all ideas. Hopefully, a basic income can remove these perverse incentives by giving people a safety net. They're not afraid to lose their job, or move on from a shitty job, because they know they and their family won't go hungry, homeless, or without access to medical care.
0: https://open-web-advocacy.org/