The author states in the article:
Obviously, many parents avoid these conflicts altogether by simply banning such games altogether. While I sympathize with that sentiment, to me it seems extreme; fun and gaming strategies are legitimate pursuits for a child
Personally I think that's a false dichotomy because it's possible to plays games (not necessarily on a screen) that allow fun and strategy while at the same time avoid IAP funnels disguised as games.
> Why is Daddy up late at night grinding in the IAP funnel for him?
Because the people who designed the IAP funnel are even more clever and insidious than the author realises and it's not just children they are after.
The whole premise of the article is at best a failure in parenting
> Instead, I am drawing my finger over lines of imaginary fruit on an iPad, trying to rack up points so he can better enjoy a game called Fruit Pop
really?
That's really what I was thinking throughout the article too. His child is in kindergarten. At that age, the majority of exposure to these games comes from the parents.
If you don't want your child exposed to games with broken economic principles that teach you to always want to consume more, then it's easy, let them play something else.
My (not yet kindergarten age) son's favourite game at the moment is hitting a balloon in the air with a paddle and seeing how many hits he can get before it hits the ground. He gets to keep score, practice counting, get some exercise and have loads of fun from all the near hits and misses. It's a game that keeps him amused, and needs minimal active supervision and all it costs is a new balloon every few days once the air from the old one runs out.
Probably a horrible idea, considering all the other complexities of the internet at large, and some of the careful supervision it necessitates.
I mean, consider the sad tale of "Slender Man."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/13/slender-man-st...
Admittedly IAP funnels are an absurdly large portion of the games on the app stores.
"Making the kid grind for his own damn coins or buy them out of his allowance" is also a suggestion that comes to mind, and would probably start to teach him something about what his time and money is worth. Why is Daddy up late at night grinding in the IAP funnel for him?