Google Fights Back • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Fights Back

#471

Post by nirvdrum » Thu, May 09, 2019, 11:19 PM UTC

tekknik wrote: post #446

nirvdrum wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I finally gave in and moved back to Android. My wife wanted my Lumia 950 XL and she loves it. She's not going to be pleased when she needs to move to something else. That dedicated camera button is an incredibly nice feature. As for photos, I wouldn't say I take hundreds of gigabytes. The point is I don't want to have an anxiety attack over running out of space where I have low coverage. I can get a 512 GB microSD ca…

You can easily connect an iPhone to a computer and copy the pics off of it. You don’t need to swap an SD card around

Carrying a laptop around with me everywhere I go is a wildly impractical solution. The situation I mentioned was at an amusement park, while on vacation.

The problem isn't that I'm using the device wrong. The problem is the device isn't fit for purpose.

Re: Google Fights Back

#472

Post by 2Ccltvcm » Fri, May 10, 2019, 2:42 PM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #440

2Ccltvcm wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use https://microg.org/ instead of Google play services A free-as-in-freedom re-implementation of Google’s proprietary Android user space apps and libraries.

IIRC, there were cases showing this setup to easily break and not have certain apps work (like Google Maps which many people want). It's cool if you have a weekend's worth of time to burn on such a project and fine-tune everything to your liking. But I don't.

https://github.com/microg/android_packages_apps_GmsCore/issu...

Re: Google Fights Back

#473

Post by britch » Fri, May 10, 2019, 5:21 PM UTC

groovybits wrote: post #307

britch wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the converse could be Google using our data for malicious purposes. Has there been any evidence of that? I have not seen any. You are right. I have not seen any evidence of this yet either. What frightens me is that IF something happens and Google is compelled or chooses to give that data to an entity to use maliciously there will be nothing we can do. As I look at it: It is dangerous for that much data about that…

I look at it this way: What is your threat model? What do you stand to lose if: * Google shuts down tomorrow? * Google turns into a malicious conspirator tomorrow? * Google's databases are compromised by a separate malicious party tomorrow? Each of these can have different outcomes for your data. Do you wish to mitigate, avoid, or accept that risk? Likewise, what do you stand to gain from using Google services? AKA,…

I understand your point that is a trade-off. I think a lot of my issue with google is that the trade off is not presented in a clear way.

You make it sound like a clear and simple transaction: I give Google my location, they give me relevant information based on that information. They add that location data to their model.

In my experience it is not presented as a transaction. I have no idea what information Google is taking/inferring about me.

Are they using my phone microphone to listen in on me? I don't think so. As far as I know there's nothing stopping them from doing that tomorrow without telling me. How would they use that data? How much are they keeping on file? There's no way for me to know and they don't have to tell me.

I found out a year ago that Google maps was tracking my every movement. I would not have consented to that, but it was grouped in with a bunch of other "app history" permissions that I agreed to a decade ago.

So it's true. I do stand to gain from using Google's services. What's hard to judge is the costs. I can't make an educated decision without knowing the costs.

Re: Google Fights Back

#474

Post by xvector » Fri, May 10, 2019, 8:18 PM UTC

mav3rick wrote: post #405

xvector wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are people downvoting your comment here? You are 100% correct. Apple also made significant contributions to the development of USB-C and have the best implementation of USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 in their products bar none . Yes, the iPhone still ships with Lightning connectors. But Lightning was revolutionary in a world full of phenomenally shitty Micro-USB connectors. It's really not a big deal, and Apple will mo…

Right completely ignore what Google did for USB-C ? And what one google engineer Benson Leung did for USB-C cables ?

Why the need for such a petulant and childish response? Did I say that Google and Benson didn't contribute to USB-C? No. Neither did I phrase it as if Apple was the only contributor.

So what's with the defensiveness?

Re: Google Fights Back

#475

Post by gjs278 » Sat, May 11, 2019, 12:19 AM UTC

eanzenberg wrote: post #227

pdimitar wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I admire people like Richard Stallman and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, IMO they fail to understand that most people simply don't care -- they have a life, job, family and stuff they like to do in their free time and they want technology to enable them and save them time, not get in the way and take their free time. I used Debian as a main driver for several years and lost patience around 2010. Using a MacBook Pro with…

Yes same here. I was on ubuntu from 2003-2010 and quit for osx because I didn't have time to tinker and fix basic-level services like audio and display settings. I only recently got ubuntu 16.04 on my desktop (dual boot) and am enjoying it, but I still drive osx on my laptop.

the fact that you are still allowed to post and I am banned is depressing. you post nonsense and couldn’t even figure out ubuntu. I doubt you are even technically capable of anything.