> Monopolies are bad, near monopolies slightly less bad

Natural monopolies (such as the one acquired by Google) are not bad as long as government retains the monopoly of B2 bombers.

It's not really a monopoly when it can be ended at a moment's notice

Can you describe a monopoly that isn't "natural"? I see what you mean but struggle to think of a traditional monopolistic company that doesn't have a "we started with the industry" defense.

The ISP in your area could be an unnatural monopoly. In my experience these companies have lobbied out local providers and bought all the competition to make them the only offerers in some areas. It happens more in rural US. The issue also crops up with gas stations in towns and then again with dollar stores as well, in this case they are replacing grocery stores. Traditionally the federal government would crack down on unnatural monopolies so that's why you don't typically see them, but look at the regional level and you can spot them.

Balance of probability, maybe rephrase as "anti-consumer behavior is bad" or "noticing how monopolies are inherently self serving is a lot like a frog noticing the water around it is getting a bit hot"

The power of an app to route people down an old farm road rather than taking the pike to me, is enough. I feel bad for those who live there because its about 30 seconds faster to on the highway

Yes, there really should be some regulation around this. Apps sending traffic down quiet residential roads because the main road is overcrowded is a terrible practice.

If it's a farm road, there's always the option my neighbour used to do: he took his sweet time when he let the cattle cross the road. It's always fun when impatient idiots have to wait a few minutes because 50 cows are walking to their meadows across the road :)

This kind of thing happened in the days before app maps/directions, but it is arguably worse now.

My friends' street is the slightest bit of a shortcut. Like, it might save 30 seconds or a minute but it avoids a really annoying stoplight-controlled intersection. It is also a quiet, purely residential street. For 20+ years, people who live on that street park way out from the curb on both sides so that the street is nearly impassable for most of the day unless you drive quite slowly (like at a crawling pace). People still use it as a shortcut, but at least speeding down that low-speed-limit road where lots of kids play in the neighborhood is not so common anymore.

The best solution to a situation like that would be to block the road on one side (or in the middle) so you can't drive through it. Minor inconvenience for people who live there, but also a major quality of live improvement if you have no through traffic at all.

But thats not whats happening. Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps etc all prefer certain paths over others. I can take a shortcut home which saved me about 5 minutes and potential traffic jams, and Google Maps will never suggest it, unless I deliberately drive down that road.

In my place (Geneva, Switzerland), Google Maps stubbornly keeps suggesting for years the fastest route form my side of the town to the other through one of few bridges that is actually absolute no-go for public traffic, with tons of warning signs (sometimes some of them are obscured by buses but still hard to miss).

Needless to say, there is often some sucker going through there, and I have to admit I ended up there once too exactly because of Google Maps. No effort to correct it over the years, in one of the wealthiest and most important power/finance centers globally.

What you and parent describe happened to me too, maps are absolute blessing compared to what was there before but they are sometimes not that great ie in cities with a lot of traffic. Its easy to get used to something just working and start demanding perfection, when we are maybe 96% there.