Modern convenience

I'm glad some people choose to share their health data - be it RunKeeper routes and times, or WiThings weights or blood pressures, or the latest Quantified Self device. There's certainly evidence that social pressure can promote real change in people's lives.

It's just not for me. At least, not at this time.

But I'm finding the problem with these modern fitness apps is, they're each in a deadly competition for VC funding, for market share, for app store rankings. So they're under huge pressure to grow their user base - and that means, increasingly, pestering users to access one's contacts and one's social feeds.

So now, if I want to use RunKeeper, I've got to tap through all these social popups, to decline to share my info, after each run.

Is there a way I can just spend a few dollars to not be annoyed by my own software? I loved the Moves app, which was elegant and minimalist, and with its one-time up-front fee, didn't pester me with sharing popups. But then it was bought by Facebook - so it's likely my data's available for sharing, despite my efforts.

Folks used to argue that Apple could charge a premium for Macs because you were paying to eliminate cruft - so that you didn't have a desktop full of AOL, MSN, or other unwanted services. 

Now, with Google and Facebook matching Apple in terms of sleek design, the premium is simply going to be privacy, and lack of social prompts.