31–39 of 39 posts
Does it sound odd that I've always been Google-free anyway? By virtue of being a Mac user. Search? Switched to DDG or Bing. I gave up Google Maps ages ago, using Bing/MS's map offering, and when Apple Maps came out I went to that. Email, has always been IMAP on servers I host myself. I never even went down the Google rabbit hole like many of my friends did. It's curious how they claim Apple is so proprietary when the…
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MS actually puts ads in the OS and also nags constantly to use Edge. But then on top MS solutions less quality, imo, than Google.
We need to stop pretending Microsoft's the only company that puts ads on their OS. The only consumer products I think Google does better are YouTube, Maps and search. Office+Outlook > Gsuite. Windows Phone > Android if weren't for the lack of apps. Windows > Chrome OS. Outlook > Gmail probably comes down more to preference but I'd like to hear why you think Google's offerings are better.
MS has gone someplace not aware of anyone else ever doing?
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It does both. I'm going to see ads no matter what, if I'm not paying. Seeing ads that might be occasionally relevant to me is better an the prior status quo of seeing seizure-inducing punch the monkey ads. These days I mostly see ads for programmer tools: I'm a happier web user as a result. This idea that ad targeting is some kind of shady evil is a very recent one and, as far as I can tell, artificially created by t…
> This idea that ad targeting is some kind of shady evil is a very recent one and, as far as I can tell, artificially created by the press as part of a proxy fight against Google and Facebook as disintermediators. It doesn't seem based on anything real. Just to be clear, are you saying that the claim that google and facebook have vast amounts of information about you doesn't seem based on anything real?
But to answer the argument you put in my mouth, I have accounts on both services and use them plenty, so yes, these firms have plenty of data created by me and about me.
But if I didn't, they'd just have a few anonymous ad profiles linked to random cookie IDs. I've seen such profiles. That's not very much.
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> This idea that ad targeting is some kind of shady evil is a very recent one and, as far as I can tell, artificially created by the press as part of a proxy fight against Google and Facebook as disintermediators. It doesn't seem based on anything real. Just to be clear, are you saying that the claim that google and facebook have vast amounts of information about you doesn't seem based on anything real?
You're not arguing with what I said. I argued that ad targeting is not evil or shady. But to answer the argument you put in my mouth, I have accounts on both services and use them plenty, so yes, these firms have plenty of data created by me and about me. But if I didn't, they'd just have a few anonymous ad profiles linked to random cookie IDs. I've seen such profiles. That's not very much.
Well, I would argue that it might not be "evil" but it definitely is "shady". But I suspect that from here this conversation would go into the definitions of words, so there's really no point.
Does it sound odd that I've always been Google-free anyway? By virtue of being a Mac user. Search? Switched to DDG or Bing. I gave up Google Maps ages ago, using Bing/MS's map offering, and when Apple Maps came out I went to that. Email, has always been IMAP on servers I host myself. I never even went down the Google rabbit hole like many of my friends did. It's curious how they claim Apple is so proprietary when the…
You understand that Apple uses Googles infrastructure to provide services, right?
That's ridiculous. I, as an end user, am not signed into any Google account at any time. Just because some encrypted bits are on a server Google owns doesn't make one a user.
Does it sound odd that I've always been Google-free anyway? By virtue of being a Mac user. Search? Switched to DDG or Bing. I gave up Google Maps ages ago, using Bing/MS's map offering, and when Apple Maps came out I went to that. Email, has always been IMAP on servers I host myself. I never even went down the Google rabbit hole like many of my friends did. It's curious how they claim Apple is so proprietary when the…
Apple is just using Google. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/26/apple-confirms-it-uses-googl... Apple confirms it uses Google cloud for iCloud - CNBC.com
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We need to stop pretending Microsoft's the only company that puts ads on their OS. The only consumer products I think Google does better are YouTube, Maps and search. Office+Outlook > Gsuite. Windows Phone > Android if weren't for the lack of apps. Windows > Chrome OS. Outlook > Gmail probably comes down more to preference but I'd like to hear why you think Google's offerings are better.
No I mean literally in the OS. Never had an ad from Apple or Google inside the OS. MS has gone someplace not aware of anyone else ever doing?
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You understand that Apple uses Googles infrastructure to provide services, right?
Are we really going to stretch it out that far? That just because Apple is using a small section of some Google infrastructure it means all of the end users aren't "Google free?" That's ridiculous. I, as an end user, am not signed into any Google account at any time. Just because some encrypted bits are on a server Google owns doesn't make one a user.
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No I mean literally in the OS. Never had an ad from Apple or Google inside the OS. MS has gone someplace not aware of anyone else ever doing?
Ubuntu had Amazon ads. Google allows manufacturers to install apps that you can't delete. Apple and Google basically strongarm shove their new apps/services to you through apps you can't delete. Aren't those ads too? Maybe not in the most literal sense but it's not too far from it.
When you put an ad directly in the OS you have gone somewhere new. So Microsoft putting ads directly in Windows to me is crossing a line that should not be cross.
Personally I never been a fan of Windows and was a big Mac user and several in my family but we have mostly moved to ChromeOS.
I have a Pixel Book and just love it. Wife replaced her iPad with a CB+. Fantastic machine. She is addicted to playing Animal Crossing on the machine with the stylus.
The problem is I have boys that need Windows for gaming. I just wish we would get some alternative.
With the new GNU/Linux support on ChromeOS and the new higher end machines coming with decent GPUs maybe we will get there finally and can remove the remaining Windows machines.