/me looks for tin foil hat
TBH, this scares me.... it reeks of govt tracking.
On the one hand, I totally get and truly appreciate this. I'm not keen on the prospect of tracking either. On the other hand, I've resigned to assuming that "go entirely and completely off the grid and live a lifestyle that fits the pre-Atomic Age" is the only way to remotely believe that the government doesn't already have access (or at least can't gain access) to whatever data they could possibly want. (Rhetorical use of "if" inbound.) If you have a cellphone, you're already trackable. The difference that playing a game like this from a large, reputable company will make seems... negligible to me.
That's my rant. Done with it since I don't wanna further hijack a Pokemon thread. 1984 hit me hard at the start of undergrad, and I've never shaken it. Things like Skynet (Terminator) don't help at all. /le shrug
Back to the subject at hand, I lack hard data, but reports of Go causing people to come to church to catch Pokemon is dandy by me. What you've mentioned,
@Ember, is great. Even if people aren't going to church to hear the Gospel, they're still going to be hearing it while sitting in church waiting for Pokemon to appear. Love it.
And the part where it's getting homebodies up, outside, exercising, and interacting with others is also superb.
It makes me sad when there are people ridiculing others for playing it on the grounds of "it's a stupid game," "it's Pokemon," or "how old are you?" when the pragmatist in me says, "People are off the couch, in public, and exercising. Why would you take exception to any of that?"
Personally, can't wait to have a Go-ready phone. Will probably be another month until I get one, but--since I'm planning to switch to Verizon from T-Mobile next month--I will need a new phone soon anyway.