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Google Blindness

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Re: Google Blindness

#11

Post by casca »

We're currently in the stage of the Internet where we can choose our feudal masters[1]. Want Google? Fine. Prefer Apple. No problem. Microsoft? Why not. For me, the issue is that people are becoming more entrenched as time progresses. The cost of preparing to switch can be relatively low - pay $8/year for your own domain and it's possible to keep using the same systems you choose today.

Yet if the technological elite (as represented by HN) is unwilling to do this, what chance do the rest have? [2]

[1] https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/12/feudal_sec.ht...

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5537383

Re: Google Blindness

#12

Post by seiji »

A lot of people are Children of The Church of Google. They're happy with a 100% data tithing to Google. That's Google's entire business: get data from users then make money from it for the furtherment of Google itself, not the users.

A lot of people are Children of The Church of Apple. They're happy with letting Apple carry buckets of data across devices, but the buckets of data remain in the person's control. That's Apple's entire business model: help people do what they need to do and don't encroach into lives needlessly.

Re: Google Blindness

#13

Post by bdcravens »

veemjeem wrote: post #6
Fuzzwah wrote: post #2

So you've got to choose one and he's chosen apple. The previous article chose google. I've chosen google but what would make an interesting article for me is one which explained whether iOS or android was better if / when I want to cut myself off from either apple or google's online services and replace them with self hosted email / calendar / etc.

I think one of the core differences according to his article is that the "data" for google calendar/contacts/etc are only stored on the cloud. You don't have physical copies of these on your desktop. Apple's products have historically been on the desktop so your calendar & contacts would mostly reside on your home computer and the only thing you would lack is the cloud syncing if apple were to go kaput.

Yes, the data is on your computer. I use Google for calendar, email, and contacts. Guess what? That data is also on my desktop if cloud syncing goes kaput. If you only use your phone and your cloud service of choice (whether Google or iCloud), then yes, you're in a world of hurt, but the scenario you described is pretty common amongst Google users as well.

Re: Google Blindness

#14

Post by antitrust »

> I object to a huge, creepy advertising company having that much access to me and my data, I think it’s unwise to use many proprietary, hard-to-replace services in such important roles, and I think it’s downright foolish to tie that much of your data and functionality into proprietary services run by one company in one account...

He makes a good point.

Absolute power gets abused absolutely.

Unless the person to whom the power is handed is some kind of Zen master, it's likely they'll use that power for personal agenda.

The groups they like will become elites. The ones they don't will get lined up against walls and shot.

That's just how it is.

Even though Google says, "Don't be evil," they aren't Zen masters.

Re: Google Blindness

#16

Post by madoublet »

Fuzzwah wrote: post #2

So you've got to choose one and he's chosen apple. The previous article chose google. I've chosen google but what would make an interesting article for me is one which explained whether iOS or android was better if / when I want to cut myself off from either apple or google's online services and replace them with self hosted email / calendar / etc.

I would argue that you do not have to choose one. In fact, it is probably better if you don't.

Re: Google Blindness

#17

Post by jfb »

seiji wrote: post #12

A lot of people are Children of The Church of Google. They're happy with a 100% data tithing to Google. That's Google's entire business: get data from users then make money from it for the furtherment of Google itself, not the users. A lot of people are Children of The Church of Apple. They're happy with letting Apple carry buckets of data across devices, but the buckets of data remain in the person's control. That's…

I don't like Google, and don't use their services, but it's in no way that straightforward. Pretty much the entirety of the marginal utility of Google's technology relies on the data their users share with them. It's a symbiotic relationship, not a purely parasitic one.

Re: Google Blindness

#18

Post by bdcravens »

casca wrote: post #11

We're currently in the stage of the Internet where we can choose our feudal masters[1]. Want Google? Fine. Prefer Apple. No problem. Microsoft? Why not. For me, the issue is that people are becoming more entrenched as time progresses. The cost of preparing to switch can be relatively low - pay $8/year for your own domain and it's possible to keep using the same systems you choose today. Yet if the technological elite…

Indeed. If Google and Dropbox stopped working, a ton of apps on my phone would be broken or significantly impaired.

Re: Google Blindness

#19

Post by varelse »

GMail and Google Maps were my go to apps on Android for years (since 2009 in fact). They both suck now. Combine that with the brick-like interactivity of my less than 2 year-old Galaxy Nexus and I'm abandoning Android for iOS as soon as my contract expires despite the fact I actually prefer a lot of Android's look and feel.

To be fair, my Nexus 7 hasn't quite given up the ghost yet, but now that its successor has been released, I'm counting the days until it too becomes as responsive as Karen Ann Quinlan.

And that's a shame because Android's interface has really come a long way in that time. Paul Stamatiou's article showcases some really cool design advances that have happened since Android 4.0.

For me it all comes down to Google seeming to not care one bit about anything except the latest and greatest devices. Yes I know that Android 4.3 is supposed to address that - good luck shipping that one out to all the major carriers.

In closing, the same brickification that hit my Galaxy Nexus this year happened to my original droid in 2011 - fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...

Re: Google Blindness

#20

Post by acqq »

One point I'd like to see discussed is written by Bruce Schneier, it made me look at the subject a bit differently than before:

If the National Security Agency required us to notify it whenever we made a new friend, the nation would rebel. Yet we notify Facebook. If the Federal Bureau of Investigation demanded copies of all our conversations and correspondence, it would be laughed at. Yet we provide copies of our e-mail to Google, Microsoft or whoever our mail host is; we provide copies of our text messages to Verizon, AT&T and Sprint; and we provide copies of other conversations to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or whatever other site is hosting them.

The primary business model of the Internet is built on mass surveillance

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/08/the_publicpriv...

Google's primary business is surveillance of their users. Selling the results to their customers, advertisers.

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