Google just canceled the pixel pass service and it was the last straw for me. I had already moved email to proton but now Ive completed the calendar shift, search to ddg, and drive to something else. My Google speakers barely understand anything anymore and I’m just sick of investing in an eco system that may or may not be there in a year.
All that is off topic to the article which is nostalgic about Google reader and search without ads, but the topic is part of a larger problem. I used to feel that using Google was a project of humans categorizing information, building something amazing and now it feels like I’m shopping at Walmart when i use their products. The type of feeling I can only describe as “I need this thing now so I’m here, let’s get in and out as quick as possible before I spend more money or become annoyed with the environment”.
This isn’t to just shit on Google, but the point is I used to feel as I was a part of something bigger, humans creating a way to access the world’s information accurately and easily and now it’s much more complicated and that feeling is gone.
I also degoogled some time back when it really occurred to me how much data they had on me. That’s not good for anyone but Google. And there are great alternatives for most things.
Also their inconsistency with their services (abandoning projects they initially promote heavily) just feels insecure and annoying.
I still use their search engine though, the alternatives aren’t there yet. But I use it less and less because it’s so riddled with affiliate sites. And I do use Youtube, it is the best streaming service despite its own set of problems.
I’m probably from a younger generation, because as long as I have been around google has never felt like a choice for me. Instead, it was always the default or mandated by the organization I am a part of (university, other web services…). It’s kinda a fight to get out of the google grasp.
Hearing you (and I guess the article towards the end) talk about google as not a monstrosity gives me hope that maybe other companies can push through and usurp google’s “defaultness”. It’d also be great if it was not another giant like microsoft giving competition.
I’d love to be able to a make a non-google choice and not feel like an outsider.
Yeah. I hate how stuck in I am in the google system. I’ve been migrating away too and ensuring whatever system I use next doesn’t tie me in or make it a pain to leave.
I’m struggling with a google photos alternative though. I’m currently just ignoring the problem and periodically using google takeout to make sure I have a local copy of all the photos.
The issue I have is my GF and parents are on my family account. So I use about 50GB of google photos and they use about 100GB combined. And I pay for the 200GB tier.
We’re all stuck now and you just need to pay indefinitely.
If you’re somewhat tech savvy, look into Nextcloud. I’m running a home server with 4 tb of storage that I share with my wife and adult kids. There are also iOs and android apps that you can use to add/delete/share files. All free and open source.
Google just canceled the pixel pass service and it was the last straw for me. I had already moved email to proton but now Ive completed the calendar shift, search to ddg, and drive to something else. My Google speakers barely understand anything anymore and I’m just sick of investing in an eco system that may or may not be there in a year.
All that is off topic to the article which is nostalgic about Google reader and search without ads, but the topic is part of a larger problem. I used to feel that using Google was a project of humans categorizing information, building something amazing and now it feels like I’m shopping at Walmart when i use their products. The type of feeling I can only describe as “I need this thing now so I’m here, let’s get in and out as quick as possible before I spend more money or become annoyed with the environment”.
This isn’t to just shit on Google, but the point is I used to feel as I was a part of something bigger, humans creating a way to access the world’s information accurately and easily and now it’s much more complicated and that feeling is gone.
Maybe it’s all in my head.
It’s not just in your head.
I also degoogled some time back when it really occurred to me how much data they had on me. That’s not good for anyone but Google. And there are great alternatives for most things.
Also their inconsistency with their services (abandoning projects they initially promote heavily) just feels insecure and annoying.
I still use their search engine though, the alternatives aren’t there yet. But I use it less and less because it’s so riddled with affiliate sites. And I do use Youtube, it is the best streaming service despite its own set of problems.
I’m probably from a younger generation, because as long as I have been around google has never felt like a choice for me. Instead, it was always the default or mandated by the organization I am a part of (university, other web services…). It’s kinda a fight to get out of the google grasp.
Hearing you (and I guess the article towards the end) talk about google as not a monstrosity gives me hope that maybe other companies can push through and usurp google’s “defaultness”. It’d also be great if it was not another giant like microsoft giving competition.
I’d love to be able to a make a non-google choice and not feel like an outsider.
Yeah. I hate how stuck in I am in the google system. I’ve been migrating away too and ensuring whatever system I use next doesn’t tie me in or make it a pain to leave.
I’m struggling with a google photos alternative though. I’m currently just ignoring the problem and periodically using google takeout to make sure I have a local copy of all the photos.
The issue I have is my GF and parents are on my family account. So I use about 50GB of google photos and they use about 100GB combined. And I pay for the 200GB tier.
We’re all stuck now and you just need to pay indefinitely.
If you’re somewhat tech savvy, look into Nextcloud. I’m running a home server with 4 tb of storage that I share with my wife and adult kids. There are also iOs and android apps that you can use to add/delete/share files. All free and open source.
Spot on. And as a result I have moved as much as possible away from Google myself. Email, Drive, Photos, Search etc. I’m happy