Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the same mindset as yours perhaps a year or two ago, until I realized a couple of things that completely changed my mind. This is a little off the main topic but you see, when it comes to privacy, we like to think that we have it in our control but in fact we don't. As Snowden has proven, what the NSA is doing is far worse than Google. You just don't know it because it's completely hidden and sealed off from th…
What? I should just ignore Googles harvesting of my data because "everyone does it"? That's ridiculous. Also, why do companies need to "compete"? There's no reason that core software like internet browsers or operating systems need to be commercial in the first place. I will happily continue using Firefox.
Let me give an example, suppose no countries on earth had nuclear weapons. We all know how deadly and devastating its effects can be to humankind. Let's say initially all nations agreed that it's bad for all of us and nobody should pursue it. However, if ONE country broke the contract and started developing nuclear weapons on their own. Do you think the remaining countries can afford to stay at their same positions and not start developing it too? Once someone starts doing it, all bets are off! You can apply the same logic to any unethical technological experiment, such as cloning human. Google really had no choice, if they don't adapt they will be out of the game within the next 10 years.