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We Need To Talk, Google

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Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#111

Post by r00fus »

MichaelGG wrote: post #26
quail wrote: post #6

Google is getting pushy now because they can . They've become habitual and omnipresent. Now is the perfect time. A couple of years ago I could see Google's vendor lock-in strategy unfold. I've been trying ever since to completely purge myself of Google, but it hasn't been easy. For anyone thinking of doing the same, be prepared to test many services out.

Unfortunately Android's still the only really reasonable choice. Apple and MS are far more restrictive on the devices, and nothing seems to come close to the Nexus line of devices anyways. It's pretty annoying that I can't rate apps I buy though.

Is privacy and device restrictiveness the same thing?

I don't want "open" necessarily, I want "respect" (for my privacy).

Unless you're going to inspect all the code/apps running on your system, an open-source OS isn't necessarily going to guarantee your privacy.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#112

Post by chmars »

VikingCoder wrote: post #84
kenko wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"thing I use to send email" and "thing I use to watch music videos" are not conceptually distinct? Most users would send as emails to others the kinds of things they leave as comments on youtube?

The word "I" showed up in both of those sentences. To most users, unifying all of their data adds a lot of value. Google reads my GMails from major airlines, and shows me when my next flight is when I Google Search for "when is my next flight". The flight also just pops up on Google Now on my Android phone. It also knows where I am, and where the airport is, so it tells me how long it will take to drive there. When I…

1/2 OT:

Navigating to La Cucaracha, i.e., literally to The Cockroach?

Is there really a place called La Cucaracha? I would have expected Google to show ads for exterminator services or maybe a link to a YouTube video featuring the La Cucaracha song … ;)

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#113

Post by oblio »

frozenport wrote: post #72
cromwellian wrote: post #49

Google is simply trying to unify their services. YouTube was an acquisition, with it's own login system and social network. They don't want to maintain this separation forever, they want a single signon for everything. Ditto for sharing and contacts. You had separate 'contacts' in Gmail, Latitude, G+, Reader, YouTube, and probably others I'm missing. Users shouldn't be prompted to maintain N different copies of this…

I don't want that! I want to remain anonymous to help improve the content of youtube without exposing myself to risk. For example I might want to post something bad about a competitor's youtube video, which will contribute to the discussion but I don't want my affiliation or name to distract from this conversation. The real problem is that the elimination of privacy that Google has so meticulously pursued has left th…

If you're giving Youtube comments as a shining example of quality and stimulating comment, I guess something is totally wrong in this world.

Even with the new rating system, the comments on Youtube are the best example of human stupidity.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#114

Post by nolok »

petitbeurre wrote: post #79
cbhl wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument is that if you didn't want them posted under "Mr John Smith" you shouldn't have posted them at all. I think they let you delete/hide all your old comments as part of the transition, but agreed that only accounts for the personal account use case, not the corporate YouTube channel use case.

That argument, though, makes no sense at all. I'm a homosexual, and living in a very conservative and homophobic part of France. I don't want any things related to homosexuality and the lgbt community posted under my real identity, because then any member of my family or any of my friends could stumble upon it and make problematical deductions. Does that mean that I shouldn't be involved online in the lgbt community…

I would like to add that while I disagree with the comment you're replying to (reminds me of "why disagree with spying if you have nothing to hide" ...), I understand that nothing forces a particular company to allow anonymous content on their website and that's fine by me.

But there is a world between refusing anon, and suddenly and posteriorly displaying the real name of people on top of content they thought was anonymous. I don't claim to be particularly smart but if their popup was unclear for me, I can't imagine how it is for people who are less tech literate.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#115

Post by gcb0 »

cromwellian wrote: post #49

Google is simply trying to unify their services. YouTube was an acquisition, with it's own login system and social network. They don't want to maintain this separation forever, they want a single signon for everything. Ditto for sharing and contacts. You had separate 'contacts' in Gmail, Latitude, G+, Reader, YouTube, and probably others I'm missing. Users shouldn't be prompted to maintain N different copies of this…

I love to be able to refrigerate my soda while washing my clothes, all in my nexus 4.

... just sucks to have the soda can burst out because you know, my freezer is integrated in the washer. And my nexus battery now weights 100Ton. But thankfully LG will buy some small truck brand and solve that too!

...sounds retarded, but that's how I see what's google is doing. A total lack of connection to who uses their services and with common sense. All their services more or less already worked like this, with open APIs and decent standardized integration. but they decided to move away from it and use g+ as the glue. which they are probably sniffing.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#116

Post by VikingCoder »

chmars wrote: post #112
VikingCoder wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word "I" showed up in both of those sentences. To most users, unifying all of their data adds a lot of value. Google reads my GMails from major airlines, and shows me when my next flight is when I Google Search for "when is my next flight". The flight also just pops up on Google Now on my Android phone. It also knows where I am, and where the airport is, so it tells me how long it will take to drive there. When I…

1/2 OT: Navigating to La Cucaracha, i.e., literally to The Cockroach? Is there really a place called La Cucaracha? I would have expected Google to show ads for exterminator services or maybe a link to a YouTube video featuring the La Cucaracha song … ;)

I've been to a great Mexican restaurant named La Cucaracha. Great name, huh?

I've always wondered how Chi-Chi's stayed in business, BTW.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#117

Post by DevKoala »

I have the same issue. I don't want a presence on G+. Why can't the unifying account mechanism be like a Microsoft account, that exists on a database without a public front? Also, Youtube is now looking like a social network, it has lost it's identity.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#118

Post by pdonis »

Sami_Lehtinen wrote: post #2

For some reasons, I actually do agree. My dad just yesterday enjoyed some hard time trying to get even simple services like Gmail to work. Because he knew how to use it earlier, but now things works differently than they used to. Cloud services, nice, you'll get always latest version. But what if the latest version simply isn't something you want?

But what if the latest version simply isn't something you want?

Exactly. Even worse, what if the old version was what you wanted, and now it's gone?

For example, Google's book reader on Android. I started using it frequently about 6 months ago. Since then, every UI change they have made has made the experience worse for me. The only reason I still use it is that it does have one big advantage over the other readers I use (the main ones are Aldiko Premium and the Kindle app): it senses and handles page turns really well, and the other readers suck at it. (And I suspect that even that advantage is because Google is using some kind of back door in the Android OS that other readers can't access, to be able to sense swipes with greater accuracy.)

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#119

Post by VikingCoder »

v13inc wrote: post #109
VikingCoder wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Banana72 shared a YouTube video with you...? What the hell? Banana72...? Oh, right, on YouTube VikingCoder is called Banana72. I think you're asking for a feature which would confuse the hell out of most users.

Unfortunately, that's hard to say without doing proper usability testing. I managed to find a decent looking study that somewhat supports my position [1]. Here's an interesting quote from the abstract: "many (40%) were hesitant to consent to the release of their personal profile information; and (6) many (36%) ex- pressed concern with the use of SSO on websites that contain valuable personal information or, conversel…

Many (40%) were hesitant to use Facebook, when it was described to them, citing privacy concerns. And then 98% of them did.

How people say they will act, and how they act, are completely different animals.

Re: We Need To Talk, Google

#120

Post by johnward »

forgottenpass wrote: post #29
lawdawg wrote: post #10

Get over it people, Google+ is the new account system for all Google products. If you don't like Google having a single account/profile system, or the fact that Google+ profiles include a "social" network product, then you best look for alternatives ASAP.

Get over it people It's OK to not like things. then you best look for alternatives ASAP. This is exactly what the author is doing. But even when the good outweighs the bad, its totally fine to stay using a service without some obligation to pretend like the negatives don't exist or never talk about them.

Does ever single person have to blog about their decision though? Every other day there is some random post that someone doesn't want to use Google services for whatever reason. I don't care. Apparently HN does because a majority of them end up making the front page.
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