Rick, I know Lee is right but Google goes too far, keeps EVERY search you EVER made for a starter, Bing and Yahoo keep these for a few years. Google is getting so powerful they can move and shake us to their benefit.
Like you I try to stay away from as much of their intrusion as I can....but it's really futile. John On May 16, 2013, at 12:28 PM, b3 studios wrote: > Some long thoughts/rants on Google: > > I'm currently at a crossroads in my relationship with Google's services. I've > used them for years (I had my first gmail account early in the beta phase), > and have tried and enjoyed many of the products that the company has > produced. I was hopeful that Google+ would provide an alternative to Facebook > because of the easy granular sharing services that the former provided. > Google Maps had been my default 'direction getting' service until Apple > switched to their own mapping system in iOS 6. I've still used Google Maps on > my iPhone from time to time since then. I've consistently switched my daily > web browsing between Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome. Google's search > engine is by far the most robust. The recent Google Now update to the Google > iOS app is interesting. > > I've always been keenly aware of the fact that Google uses the information I > provide to target me with advertisements, but I've been fine with that. > > All of this started to sour a bit last year when Google implemented their new > privacy policy. I was okay with it then, but more and more I'm leery of > giving the company any more of my information. > > One thing that contributed to my uncertainty the continued use of the > majority of Google's products was their decision to shut down Google Reader. > I've used the services multiple times a day for years, and after they came in > and decimated the RSS syndication market, Reader was the only viable option > left. It will be interesting to see what will step up to fill the Reader > void, and the situation has reminded me that it is important to actually pay > for services that you rely on. > > I recently received a replacement iPhone (I had somehow acquired some > dust/debris under the camera lens and Apple swapped it out with a new one). > This however highlighted even more problems with Google, as I was no longer > able to get "push" notifications of my GMail emails on the new device. I > realized that this was due to the restriction that Google implemented earlier > this year. While hardware that was already set up to sync/push using 'active > sync' will continue to work properly, any new hardware (including fully > restored replacement devices) will be forced to used standard "fetch" IMAP > email (unless the device is an Android one). While waiting 15 to 30 minutes > to receive an email (or manually fetching by opening the app) is truly a > first world problem, it is an annoyance. > On my iPhone and iPad I could used the (much improved) GMail app and get push > notifications, but it has just enough problems to keep my from enjoying the > experience. > > This lead me to search for alternative solutions. > > I have since decided to try a trail where I use as few Google services as I > can, and those that I do use I do so without logging in and identifying > myself. > > I have decided to try and stop being the product (Google selling me to > advertisers) and using products (paying for services, etc.) > > So far I've done the following: > - Switched all of my browsing to Safari and mobile Safari. While I really > enjoy some of the features of Chrome on iOS, I can deal with mobile Safari > and since Apple doesn't let you choose a default browser on iOS, it's easier > to use anyway. > > - I have installed Ghostly in my desktop Safari to prevent as much > inadvertent tracking as possible. > > - Switched my email from GMail to my iCloud account. Right now most of my > stuff is being forwarded from GMail until I decide if I want to make the > change permanent. I prefer some of the features of GMail (two-factor > authentication to sign into webmail, filtering, etc.), but with iCloud I get > push notifications. Additionally, making the switch has really made me > reconsider the way that I've been using GMail since the beginning, for > example archiving all mail instead of selective archiving and deleting the > rest. Do I really need to keep all those NewEgg newsletters from 3 years ago? > > - I use Apple maps on my iPhone and iPad instead of Google Maps. I haven't > had to use anything on the desktop yet, but will try out map quest or > something similar when the time comes. > > - I've changed my search engines. I'm alternating between Bing and Yahoo, and > also a bookmarked DuckDuckGo page (since I can't use it by default in the > search bars of my Safari browsers). > > - I'm still searching for a Google reader replacement, but that will come > soon enough. > > - My YouTube browsing is done without signing in. > > - I still need to use Google Scholar and I don't see an alternative coming > any time soon, although it may just be a matter of time before this service > gets pastured like some other Google offerings. > > > In the end, while Google makes some compelling services, I've grown > increasingly uncomfortable giving all my information to one entity that has > some history with questionable ethics. (not that Apple is much better, but > they do seem a little more up front about it ;) > > Anyone else tried divorcing Google? > Rick > > > _______________________________________________ > MacGroup mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.math.louisville.edu/mailman/listinfo/macgroup _______________________________________________ MacGroup mailing list [email protected] http://www.math.louisville.edu/mailman/listinfo/macgroup
