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Google Blindness

marco.org

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Re: Google Blindness

#51

Post by smokinjoe »

varelse wrote: post #19

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 bee…

Apple has the same issues where they slowly taper off the iOS versions that an aging iPhone can run.

What about the updated GMail and GMaps don't you like? The user experience has been beefed up significantly - going between user accounts and organizing mail in GMail has never been easier. The Google Maps interface is really pleasant to use and doesn't clutter up the screen when all you want to do is view the area.

Obviously those are two quick personal observations, but I'm very curious as to what recent features may have introduced friction to long-time users.

Re: Google Blindness

#52

Post by NotOscarWilde »

CodeCube wrote: post #32
antitrust wrote: post #14

> 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…

> "... they aren't Zen masters" Well, not all of them, at least :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8fcqrNO7so

He doesn't sound like a Zen master to me either. I know it's probably hard to distinguish between Buddhist sects but "success and happiness" (the subtitle of the book that is promoted in the video) are not terms Zen Buddhism deals with usually.

Normal Buddhism does deal with these extensively, Four Noble Truths are all about suffering. But Zen Buddhism tends to dismiss these concepts as unimportant. They may be true, they may not be true, but while you're looking for happiness and success, Zen offers nothing.

Mindfulness meditation is rather cool, as is general Buddhism. I'm just trying to distinguish a bit here.

Re: Google Blindness

#53

Post by acqq »

anxious wrote: post #47
acqq wrote: post #20

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-m…

I'll avoid making a comment of how NSA talk is hijacking every thread, but I'll attempt to correct your misgivings: Google's primary business is advertising , meaning that like the publishers of yore they sell "space", now with the advent of technology that "space" gets populated with what the algos determine to be the best suitable ad according to data about the would be viewer of said ad. They don't 'sell their use…

The point is, Google isn't just "selling space." They collect the data about you, admitting themselves that they prefer to never delete anything. The key word is "targeting," remember? In process, they still know more about you than your mother or partner. Somewhere in their guts, there is a collection of data about you, the depth of it not even imaginable before.

How we got here: Moxie Marlinspike, 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG0KrT6pBPk

Re: Google Blindness

#54

Post by exacube »

acqq wrote: post #20

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-m…

As jmduke said, i feel it's pretty silly to compare Facebook to the NSA, when they operate in completely different contexts: the NSA doesn't ask for your permission for the data, while you and your friends are giving Facebook the data. People are angry because the NSA is collecting data on us without consent.

while i see the argument for "facebook is using the data in a way that we haven't given our consent for," i think it's a lot less severe issue because a) Facebook openly admits how it's using it, which makes the company honest (unlike the NSA) b) Ensures us that no human other than the ones you authorize will ever see said data. (unlike the NSA)

we can be angry because the NSA abused our trust, while Facebook has yet to break it. it's also very tiring to hear people and see them live defensively and not use facebook or google in case they might break your trust, its starting to border paranoia.

Re: Google Blindness

#55

Post by casca »

josh2600 wrote: post #40
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…

Your comment could have a few names changed and apply equally well to the Lycos and Yahoo web portals of the early Internet. The Tech elite have the same chance as the rest of us. We're all humans, vulnerable to loneliness, envy and every other mortal sin. The pain of switching is not technical, but social and political. It is a deeply political and social decision to disconnect from our social fabric and not one tha…

Very much agreed. My point is more that the cost to prepare to switch is very low. We have a high degree of certainty that email will be used for the foreseeable future so why not make the addressing movable?

How can we make the preparation for flexibility become a pure technical problem and not a social one?

Re: Google Blindness

#56

Post by anonymoushn »

runjake wrote: post #43

Marco's article is so poorly-written, so poorly thought-out, I don't know where to begin. It's really more an article about hating Google as a whole. Google blindness? Or blind hatred for Apple's competitors? Some gems, though: 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 proprieta…

Both of your links are for the same search terms (google account locked), and they return 67 or 89 million results here.

Re: Google Blindness

#58

Post by josh2600 »

casca wrote: post #55
josh2600 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment could have a few names changed and apply equally well to the Lycos and Yahoo web portals of the early Internet. The Tech elite have the same chance as the rest of us. We're all humans, vulnerable to loneliness, envy and every other mortal sin. The pain of switching is not technical, but social and political. It is a deeply political and social decision to disconnect from our social fabric and not one tha…

Very much agreed. My point is more that the cost to prepare to switch is very low. We have a high degree of certainty that email will be used for the foreseeable future so why not make the addressing movable? How can we make the preparation for flexibility become a pure technical problem and not a social one?

"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

— Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

Re: Google Blindness

#59

Post by raphaelsaunier »

varelse wrote: post #19

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 bee…

Could you elaborate on the 'brickification' of your Galaxy Nexus? I've owned a Galaxy Nexus pretty much since it came out and, I have to say, it is as good as the day it came out.

Also – and I don't mean to sound like a fanboy – I personally think that Google Maps and Gmail even better than they were two years ago. At which point did they start to suck in your opinion?

Re: Google Blindness

#60

Post by sveme »

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.

That's not what the article says. Rather, keep away from ecosystems at all. If a company tries to bind you to its ecosystem, stay away, as you are bound to be the one suffering from it in the long run.

It's a shame that the internet seems to be on day four of groundhog day, seeing the same story played out over and over.

1. a dominating ecosystem or a couple of ecosystems exist (e.g., AOL in the early days) 2. increased lock-in makes people yearn for alternatives 3. open alternatives spring up, gain momentum and overcome the dominating ecosystem 4. the previous alternative is now successful and starts to diversify its offerings 5. with increasing adoption and an increased market share, the company tries to connect services, for the convenience of its users (that's what they say) or for increased lock-in (that's what they don't say) 6. over time, now this former upstart becomes the dominant ecosystem, increasingly removing the openness from its services and connecting its offerings so that you don't have to leave them ever (we are back at 1.) 7. users start to feel the pain of being locked-in and yearn for open alternatives...

The only way to break this cycle is by actively pursuing alternatives, by diversifying its providers and by making a conscious decision to forgo immediate convenience gains by using the same provider for different services.

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