Friday, July 15, 2016

Report: Boeing Bans Pokemon Go After Near Injury, Distraction

In what is probably an unsurprising move for a corporation, Boeing--the largest private employer in Washington State--has reportedly banned playing Pokemon Go at the company, after a worker was almost injured while being distracted by the game. The airplane manufacturer, which has more than 75,000 people in the state, issued a note to employees, saying that it had blacklisted Pokemon Go on its company phones because of "users not being able to make the conscious decision to not play Pokemon at work". The app has been a huge boon to fellow, Washington employer Nintendo, which runs its U.S. operations from Seattle; however, the game has led to users falling off cliffs, car crashes, stabbings, and more as distracted users have wandered off to places they probably shouldn't be. Boeing is unlikely to be the last employer making the move, although it's probably one of the largest so far to make the news.