this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2026
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To me it seems like it's up to what you prioritize. If you prioritize convenience, nothing can beat one thing to keep track of – especially if it's the one thing you spend all your time on (easy to track, and less likely to lose because you spend too much time on it).
I'm from that small slice between proper millennial and gen Z (94-98), where we experienced the social media and smart technology boom during our teenage years. I directly experienced the rapid shifts and pressure to use all the trendiest social medias, smart appliances and the accompanying apps, cheap streaming services, easy shopping, every device using the same usb standard, dynamic smartphone designs, touch payment etc. During that time and uni, I would've jumped at the chance to coalesce everything onto one device, but couldn't because the infrastructure wasn't there. We were technologically "naive", thinking technology would only become increasingly more convenient without having any trade-offs.
But now, we are all aware of the negative consequences, politics, and burdens of being reliant on these services and infrastructure from the technological monopolies. Half the conversations with my friends of this age group end up being about what trade-offs we're willing to put up with for convenience while losing privacy, security, and autonomy. Gen Z grew up with this infrastructure in place and are readily entrapped in it (to no fault of their own). Of course they're going to notice a wallet when they use a more convenient option, because the alternative isn't something they personally experienced nor needed.
Unfortunately, this leaves them vulnerable to the whims of the private companies who control the infrastructure and social media – surcharges on touch payments, increasing costs of streaming, not owning media (games, movies), subscriptions everywhere, social media and smartphone addiction. We're seeing a trend of people choosing away from the convenient option towards privacy and autonomy. . Unless it's an open standard and I have a readily available alternative, I don't use it on my smartphone – hence the wallet.