They defined it as addressing problems that don't exist. I always think about battery powered spinning forks.
I've been to a Vipassana camp and every day for 10 days we would meditate for 12 hours a day in a hall. As people have for more than 2000 years. I'm in no way a meditation guru nor a traditionalist but any app that would give you stimulus whether it be through vibrations or visual/verbal instructions would take away from the grounding and mindful experience.
I am confident that most people who buy meditation apps don't actually meditate for more than a few days. We all already have a meditation app. It's a the clock app, you can set an alarm on it. Similar to those people who buy a expensive ellipticals or bikes and never use it. Peloton regret is a real thing.
I think this is a first world problem regarding consumerism. Capitalist society and the higher ups convincing us to worship money. Where we put all our energy into obtaining money in order to put it back in the system. Man has successfully domesticated man.
If anyone really wanted to meditate, they would just do it. Maybe look up how to do it, then do it. But we live in an app world today, it is what it is.
I just realized you're the poster of the article. I don't mean to say what you're doing is pointless but it'd be cooler if you made a meditation app that locked the phone or something totally different than the other apps.
What do you mean by: "I personally believe that all problems are, at their core, human problems. Hence why the focus on meditation as an Archimedes lever."
Yes, tech should solve problems mindfully which is why I always see meditation apps and the like to be oxymoronic. Our brains did not evolve at the rate our technology did, it is nigh impossible to be mindful with technology. We also did not evolve to work and play on computers all day and we are now seeing the psychological and physiological epidemic of problems. That's why people in the cities go camping to "unplug". That's why there a movement of high income industrious workers like yourself quitting and picking up manual labor jobs. Making things with your hands is far more fulfilling than coding small parts in a multi billion dollar app. It's just how our brains and bodies work. I believe this is another fundamental problem with humans today, up there with consumerism.
Your Memento chrome extension is pretty sick though and is pretty mindful. I just installed it.