No More Google • Hacker News Board

Re: No More Google

#241

Post by koyote » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

jason0597 wrote: post #34

These anti-Google discussions come and go on the front page of Hacker News, but I'd be curious to know how many people actually degoogle their lives drastically after reading such discussions and articles. I believe it's more of a case of "Oh my god, Google is so disgusting! Shame on Google!", and then people open up a new tab in Chrome to search on Google about their next restaurant destination as if nothing happene…

I've been with Google since the gmail beta and have slowly de-googled a lot of the stuff I use. Not due to privacy concerns but simply due to them cancelling products or making existing products worse (gTalk/Hangouts closure as well as Google Photos/Drive decoupling were the two big ones).

I now use Fastmail with my own domain and I love it.

I also use Firefox which is pretty much back to being the best browser after around a decade of falling behind Chrome.

For search I use DDG but I often find myself doing a '!g' search for local information such as restaurants/maps.

Chat I use a combination of Telegram and Whatsapp (but this is dependent on what other people use).

I use OneDrive instead of Drive (I get 1TB thanks to the Office family plan), which is ok.

I still use an Android phone as I find iphones to be very frustrating to use , especially if you do not use a Mac.

I think the two big unbeatable ones are Search and Maps. No one is able to even remotely compete on those two but I think that's ok. We have to go back to a world of diversifying the software we use and stop companies from forcing us into a single ecosystem.

Re: No More Google

#242

Post by mpclark » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:21 PM UTC

jason0597 wrote: post #34

These anti-Google discussions come and go on the front page of Hacker News, but I'd be curious to know how many people actually degoogle their lives drastically after reading such discussions and articles. I believe it's more of a case of "Oh my god, Google is so disgusting! Shame on Google!", and then people open up a new tab in Chrome to search on Google about their next restaurant destination as if nothing happene…

I’ve just been gradually de-Googling. It took years to take slowly take over my life, so I figured I’d play the same game and have just been picking something else every time I have a choice. So now I’m on iOS, not Android; personal email has moved to Fastmail, my sites have moved to Clicky instead of GA. There’s still plenty of Google in my life, but a few years from now it will just be gone.

Re: No More Google

#243

Post by npteljes » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:23 PM UTC

Igelau wrote: post #8

Anyone using any of these email services? I'm not looking for a workplace product, I just want to be able to get myself out of Gmail reliance and gradually get my family away from it too.

I opted for Posteo because the FSF recommended them. The web UX is, how to put it, retro, but the service is flawless otherwise. No custom domains, but there's an alias feature which is cool.

Re: No More Google

#244

Post by npteljes » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:24 PM UTC

muststopmyths wrote: post #81

Doesn't mention Google Domains. Any suggestions for a reliable registrar ?

I have some at Gandi, for some years now, stable service, good API, straightforward web interface.

Re: No More Google

#245

Post by smrq » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:24 PM UTC

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #201

pgt wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By shame and disgust, I suspect you mean something along the lines of virtue-signalling, but I think it's much more simple than that, it's plain old economics: Long-term reliability and excellence. If you keep shutting down products, who could risk relying on them? Not me, because switching costs are non-trivial. If you launch ten different chat products (luckily the icons match) and shut them down a few months later…

people keep trotting out this old story of Google kills products but it hasn't happened in years. Yes they killed some niche products years ago - social network/chat and an rss reader.. but the important stuff with huge user bases is stable. gmail, chrome, calendar, maps, docs have never been shutdown and likely never will until the entire tech world changes drastically.

Inbox? Hangouts? Play Music?

Re: No More Google

#246

Post by NewOrderNow » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:25 PM UTC

mxuribe wrote: post #234

NewOrderNow wrote: post #134

Anyone know of a decent alternative to Google Photos? That is my last hold out

Is your focus area for mere hosting of photos (such as for availability/backup)? Or, are you more interested in being able to share tour photos? Is there a particular feature that is most important for you related to a G Photos alternative? I think if you post that, perhaps viable suggestions might be offered that would be best for you; instead of some general "try XYZ because it is randomly better!" sort of comment.

It was both a good back up as well as method of distribution to clients I suppose. Self hosting is going to be the way to go, though UX-wise and ease of use still seems off.

Re: No More Google

#247

Post by NewOrderNow » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:26 PM UTC

mceachen wrote: post #233

NewOrderNow wrote: post #134

Anyone know of a decent alternative to Google Photos? That is my last hold out

If you want to self-host, you're welcome to try out PhotoStructure: https://photostructure.com/faq/why-photostructure/

Yes, this is the route I am looking to go most likely. I will check this out

Re: No More Google

#248

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:26 PM UTC

jason0597 wrote: post #34

These anti-Google discussions come and go on the front page of Hacker News, but I'd be curious to know how many people actually degoogle their lives drastically after reading such discussions and articles. I believe it's more of a case of "Oh my god, Google is so disgusting! Shame on Google!", and then people open up a new tab in Chrome to search on Google about their next restaurant destination as if nothing happene…

[deleted]

Re: No More Google

#249

Post by toastercat » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:26 PM UTC

jason0597 wrote: post #34

These anti-Google discussions come and go on the front page of Hacker News, but I'd be curious to know how many people actually degoogle their lives drastically after reading such discussions and articles. I believe it's more of a case of "Oh my god, Google is so disgusting! Shame on Google!", and then people open up a new tab in Chrome to search on Google about their next restaurant destination as if nothing happene…

I've mostly de-googled. I still use Google Search via Firefox container when DDG results are lacking, and still use Google Maps & Youtube because the alternatives pale in comparison (using NewPipe, F-Droid, and microG on my phone and loving the benefits!). I am planning on running a personal Invidious instance since I generally prefer its UX over YouTube's.

The main motivators for me was not having all my eggs in the same basket, and also supporting smaller single-service businesses. The privacy & tracking issues were also considerations. An unexpected benefit is that I found my relationship to tech and the internet has been simplified, partly because I'm no longer engulfed in one company's gigantic ecosystem that constantly pushes new features and new products on me like Google or Apple.

Re: No More Google

#250

Post by harha » Mon, Nov 02, 2020, 10:27 PM UTC

Normal_gaussian wrote: post #85

jason0597 wrote: post #34

These anti-Google discussions come and go on the front page of Hacker News, but I'd be curious to know how many people actually degoogle their lives drastically after reading such discussions and articles. I believe it's more of a case of "Oh my god, Google is so disgusting! Shame on Google!", and then people open up a new tab in Chrome to search on Google about their next restaurant destination as if nothing happene…

I've partially degoogled, and it was certainly influenced by these kinds of discussions. The most compelling reason I have found for degoogling is to make the question "what happens if they ban me?" get the anwser "nothing much". The next most compelling reason is to protect the world from their influence. i.e. take my influence amongst my family and peers and use it to steer another small part of the world away from…

Another compelling reason is to avoid actively contributing to their ad ecosystem, which is ultimately paid for by the users and businesses that (have to) rely on the products because they are the biggest player in the market.

One of many examples is how Google pushes for advertisers to bid on their own keywords, so you have the same result as the first ad and organic page. Is that really necessary?

I'd rather get a discount or better service than click on an ad, performance marketing makes companies think otherwise because it's more difficult to measure.