5 ms·

Now I will have to seriously consider getting off the Google ecosystem now. Deactivating facebook was okay, but Google might be tricky considering many of websi

Now I will have to seriously consider getting off the Google ecosystem now. Deactivating facebook was okay, but Google might be tricky considering many of website accounts use Google authentication.

adjkant 9y ago
Okay, this is a small rant that is not directly aimed at you, so nothing personal. This is aimed generally more at people in the privacy at all costs camp and the like. If there's some viewpoint I'm missing here I'd also love to hear it, so it's not really a mean-spirited rant either. Google owns the internet at this point. For general use purposes, they ARE the internet. So avoiding them should really have at least SOME effect before it's even seriously considered. What does getting off Google do? It doesn't hurt them, as there's no way a significant number of people will take action, at least in the near future. So, then it must be done for you. By not being in these services and having all this data collected on you, what do you actually gain? Likely, nothing at all. You won't be able to be tracked down as easily if Google turns evil, sure. If their data is breached in a meaningful way, sure again. But, for both of these, emphasis on "as easily". At this point, if you're looking to maliciously track down just about anyone, it's not hard at all. You'd have to go fully off the grid to get this. And in that scenario, what do you gain again? We follow down the same road of "I only gain something in very unlikely scenarios" again. So to me, the only way this type of perspective makes sense is if you believe those very unlikely scenarios (from my view) are much more likely. And if they are, we're all fucked already, and being one of the few to be off the grid probably won't matter in the end. Basically, at this point, you've already given yourself to Google. Rather than decide whether or not to trust them, I think putting more effort into trying to influence them towards "not being evil", as they say, is much more of a realistic move for someone with concerns over data, privacy, power/security of all this, etc. Am I missing something? PS: I understand Facebook - for some, there are no significant benefits you give up. For most, you're going to give up a lot more with Google.
- taneq 9y ago
  > By not being in these services and having all this data collected on you, what do you actually gain? Likely, nothing at all. By closing the curtains in your bedroom when you're about to get busy with your partner, what do you actually gain? Likely, nothing at all. I place a not-inconsiderable weight on not feeling like I'm being watched and recorded every second of the day and night. By controlling which data I give companies like Google and Facebook, I significantly reduce this creepy feeling and so gain a significant amount of peace of mind.
- teaneedz 9y ago
  I think the point is that we will give our data and maybe trust to other companies. I don't care if Google is hurt or not. Another company that is more privacy-centric and not creepily tracking everything (anonymized or not) will benefit though.
  - adjkant 9y ago
    Agreed, I'm not for/against Google here either. So is there a privacy-centered company that offers what Google does?
    - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
      Depends what you're looking for. You won't find one single company with as many tendrils as Google... but that's okay, you should be really worried about a company with that many tendrils. If you need email/calendar/contacts, I recommend FastMail, for example, but you're gonna have to get your hardware and your other services from someone else.
- CameronBanga 9y ago
  "Hey, they did feed us our whole lives, and gave us room to run for a bit. And they're a farm, so it's your fault for not realizing they were going to kill you for meat the entire time. And we're practically halfway to the slaughter house right now, so why would you even try to put up a fight. Just give in and let them end it nice and quick."
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - adjkant 9y ago
    As opposed to going kicking and screaming, all to the same end? The metaphor is still flawed thoguh doesn't add anything to the conversation here. What exactly is the equivalent of death here? Google has all your data - what could they do with it that will affect you realistically? Or if someone malicious gets it? My point is that the likelihood of malicious activity is low, and so are the consequences. Am I missing something?
    - anger 9y ago
      We live in the information age, when information is the ultimate power. One danger is that with all that data about you and very advanced AI/ML tech Google can push you into making irrational purchase decisions (yeah, I know YOU are special, and advertising doesn't work on YOU) - e.g. buying a red sports car in your 40s. The other is this data will be available to NSA, GCHQ, etc. and their controlling governments, politicians, their wealthy sponsors/muppetmasters, etc. Do you trust the politicians in USA, or any other courtry? We are all man and not angels. Having all data on someone, you can always find shady stuff. Using that government and big business can make sure there are no influential union leaders, political parties offering real change, etc. It will be the end of (however imperfect) democracy.
      - name_for_now 9y ago
        So, outside of giving your data to government agencies, you're saying the worst thing Google can do is use ML to turn you into a consumer-zombie? While I mostly share your stance on this, that argument just seems completely ineffective (in part to the sense of exceptionalism you mention). Unless there's some poster child case of this that I'm unaware of, I'm not sure why "big scary ML-injected ads" keep getting brought up when there are potentially more valid concerns out there. Moving on, the remainder of the argument relies on the assumption of an antagonistic state, which if true, means you have a much bigger and immediate problem in the first place. Google or not, China seems to be doing pretty well as a surveillance state so that doesn't seem too convincing either. So I don't think that opinions will change without a string of high profile incidents that substantiate both of the concerns you mention.
- qwerrtytest 9y ago
  What are you talking about? Personally I use a few Google services - search, News, Products, YouTube, without logging in and don't see why you'd ever NEED an account. If you have to use something like their analytics or cloud, just spin up a VPN-ed VM.
- __david__ 9y ago
  I don't know, I think it's easier than you make it out to be. I don't use gmail, I have Duck Duck Go as my main search engine, I don't log into Google in my main browser. I just don't use anything on a regular basis that needs a google login. When I do, I open Chrome and log in there, so it doesn't taint my main browser. It hasn't affected my life or my career negatively (or at all, really).
  - adjkant 9y ago
    That's a fair answer, and I'm sure one that many share. Thanks for addressing the question directly - I see how for a minority of users, the switch makes sense. I guess for me, I don't care enough to make all those changes. As a Chrome user, the sync across things is nice, and I enjoy the interface. I'll take the ease at risk of someone having my data in a catastrophic situation. Obviously, your choice makes great sense for you.
    - khn1 9y ago
      > I guess for me, I don't care enough to make all those changes. Up until I read this article, I used to feel the opposite way. I think there is some value in everyone having privacy and personal space. It gives us an opportunity to decompress and relieve some of the stresses of our increasingly connected world. However, discovering that Google (and others) are merging my online and offline behavior is making me doubt my viewpoint (the 70% figure really hit hard). If I can't escape it, why not just be apart of it? Surely life is a bit simpler: not having to pay for email, better search results (DDG vs Google)... It seems that whether you want to or not, you _will_ become part of the google/facebook/etc ecosystem. The other reason I used non-google services was in some ways to "hedge" my position. By using a non-google email with a custom domain, I am not tied down to any email provider (note: I bought the domain explicitly for email use). If I ever became unsatisfied with my email service, I could always switch to a different provider without the hassle of creating a new email address. Now, maybe this is just a defeatist view, but I think google/facebook are too big to fail. If google disappeared tomorrow or in 10 years, there would be chaos -too much of the world depends on it. Does this give them enough power to exist in perpetuity? Maybe it's time to just cave in and use all google services. It sure is cheaper.
- xj9 9y ago
  i don't avoid spy-tech companies to hurt them, i do it because i have a problem with being spied on. i also prefer to be a direct customer of the businesses whose services i utilize. it is important to me that our interests are aligned. why? i don't really know. personal preference? paranoia? doesn't really matter. i can't control google and i don't care about trying to influence them. i do my own thing and i make a lot of my own stuff. i like it that way. i like the independence.
- lowglow 9y ago
  Just use a different email provider (or roll your own), use duck duck go for web searches, don't use an android device. What else do they own? It's already becoming in vogue to move away from facebook/google and are actively looking to move towards other systems but there aren't a lot of quality options out there at the moment. If I could quickly spin up a remote server that had baked in panels for email, blog, and hooked up to mastadon, and a distributed reddit, I would probably go a step further. Further than that? Not sure what else I could do. Open to suggestions.
  - retube 9y ago
    > don't use an android device what else is there? I don't want Apple.
- trumpcoder 9y ago
  This is a bunch of baloney. I have been off Google for many years now and I don't miss anything as far as I can tell. I still use their search engine but because I don't use gmail, I refuse Google's cookies and I change my IP address regularly, they cannot track me. The real question is the opposite. What is that those Google fanatics get from Google that they couldn't get otherwise that is worth giving Google their entire private lives? I never understood the psychological pull that Google has on people. Google is every bit as evil as any other profit seeking corporation. Only, whereas a company like say Pepsico, just wants you to buy their product, Google wants to spy on you every second of your life. Why is that people put up with this is beyond me.
- zkms 9y ago
  > I think putting more effort into trying to influence them towards "not being evil", as they say, is much more of a realistic move for someone with concerns over data, privacy, power/security of all this, etc. There's absolutely no chance for me to do that. I don't work at Google, I'm not rich nor influential. I have as much influence on what Google does as I have influence on the orbit of the planets. Voice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit,_Voice,_and_Loyalty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit,_Voice,_and_Loyalty) doesn't work. The only other option is Exit, and while it's shitty, it's not as utterly futile as Voice is.
- paradite 9y ago
  (OP of parent thread here) Okay. I understand your points. Actually I have posted the reasons for such considerations before on my blog: https://paradite.com/2016/02/18/stay-independent-problems-with-dependencies/ https://paradite.com/2016/02/18/stay-independent-problems-wi...
- gub09 9y ago
  My vote doesn't mean anything either.
- TheBobinator 9y ago
  Yes, you are missing something. You are the product. By using these services, your beliefs, habits, work, and by extension you yourself, are slowly being turned into a product for consumption by, at best, profiteering business executives, and at worst, totalitarian regimes. Does facebook want you to find and actually spend time with people? No, they want you hooked on their website endlessly posting cat pictures and looking at cat pictures from your "friends". By doing this, they make you lonely and isolate you from actual social contact; there's an entire generation of kids who think socialization is facebook. Facebook is loneliness and isolation and when they have you there, on facebook, isolated, they own you. Integrate your Facebook with Spotify? Someone pays spottily to run subversive, politically motivated songs. Who do you talk about that for reference? To know if the politics or history you are being sold are factual. Integrate your Facebook with Uber? Uber now knows your approximate income and how gullible you are, and will charge you a consummate rate. Integrate your Facebook with your New york times subscription? All of the MSM outlets use parametric targeting of readers to display articles to them think they will identify with. If someone pays them advertise to passionate democrats in order to get them to donate, chances are, you will see a never-ending news "feed" (Love how they call this a feed, like a cattle feed) of tabloid news which provides you with all kinds of "calls to action" in order to donate. You'll see stories on how chocolate cures cancer, then an ad from nestle. The more information they have on you, the more precise and intense the targeting. And you won't know, you can't know, because engaging in that degree of paranoia is crazy. What do you get by opting out completely? Advertising works by making you unhappy, by manipulating you to be unhappy, by whispering terrible and horrible things in your ear and hoping you buy a lifetime subscription of unhappiness. It tells young, beautiful women they need makeup in order to be beautiful. It tells ingenious IT geeks they aren't good enough without knowing framework X or having product Y. It tells fat people to buy dieting products that never work, that can't work, because if they were to cure the problem, they couldn't ever be sold another approach. Go search google for weight loss right now; How useful is ANY of that information to someone who wants to lose weight? The observation being, google is providing you with nothing, absolutely nothing, because you_are_the_product. While you are ingesting advertising, you will never be content. You will never be fulfilled. And worse, the more time you spend in the bubble, the more of what and who you are will be configured to be that unhappy, totally messed up amalgamation people the big businesses wanted you to be, and the longer it will take to de-consumerize. This is what psychological warfare has become; what the studies and sciences of psychographics, psychovisuals, psychoaudio, public relations, communication and marketing has become. If you opt out, you retain your freedom to think for yourself, act for yourself, and be yourself. You retain your ability to be content and happy. You get to have real friends. You no longer exist in the 7th circle of hell.
- snarf 9y ago
  It's also a matter of principle. You can always argue that if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear in support of more surveillance. But that's a slippery slope.
- pb82 9y ago
  You're not wrong but for me this kind of behavior just takes away the joy of technology. We don't completely own or control our devices. The services that we use all have hidden (or not so hidden) agendas and treat us as products. I'm still using an old Nexus 4 but I can't be bothered to replace it. Nothing on that market excites me anymore.
- ionised 9y ago
  > Google owns the internet at this point. For general use purposes, they ARE the internet. This is an obscene exaggeration. You are seriously overestimating how much significance Google has, and how irreplaceable they are in people's lives. If you've never seriously bothered looking into leaving the Google ecosystem though, I could see how you might think that way. The hardest part about transitioning away from Google for me personally, was the time it took to switch all my accounts from one email address (GMail) to others (Kolab, Posteo). It was still no more than a few hours of one day. After that, no more Google. I've been free of any Google accounts or services for around 4 years now and despite an initial headache, I don't feel like I'm missing any irreplaceable conveniences.

Now I will have to seriously consider getting off the Google ecosystem now. Deactivating facebook was okay, but Google might be tricky considering many of website accounts use Google authentication.

adjkant 9y ago

Okay, this is a small rant that is not directly aimed at you, so nothing personal. This is aimed generally more at people in the privacy at all costs camp and the like. If there's some viewpoint I'm missing here I'd also love to hear it, so it's not really a mean-spirited rant either. Google owns the internet at this point. For general use purposes, they ARE the internet. So avoiding them should really have at least SOME effect before it's even seriously considered. What does getting off Google do? It doesn't hurt them, as there's no way a significant number of people will take action, at least in the near future. So, then it must be done for you. By not being in these services and having all this data collected on you, what do you actually gain? Likely, nothing at all. You won't be able to be tracked down as easily if Google turns evil, sure. If their data is breached in a meaningful way, sure again. But, for both of these, emphasis on "as easily". At this point, if you're looking to maliciously track down just about anyone, it's not hard at all. You'd have to go fully off the grid to get this. And in that scenario, what do you gain again? We follow down the same road of "I only gain something in very unlikely scenarios" again. So to me, the only way this type of perspective makes sense is if you believe those very unlikely scenarios (from my view) are much more likely. And if they are, we're all fucked already, and being one of the few to be off the grid probably won't matter in the end. Basically, at this point, you've already given yourself to Google. Rather than decide whether or not to trust them, I think putting more effort into trying to influence them towards "not being evil", as they say, is much more of a realistic move for someone with concerns over data, privacy, power/security of all this, etc. Am I missing something? PS: I understand Facebook - for some, there are no significant benefits you give up. For most, you're going to give up a lot more with Google.

taneq 9y ago
> By not being in these services and having all this data collected on you, what do you actually gain? Likely, nothing at all. By closing the curtains in your bedroom when you're about to get busy with your partner, what do you actually gain? Likely, nothing at all. I place a not-inconsiderable weight on not feeling like I'm being watched and recorded every second of the day and night. By controlling which data I give companies like Google and Facebook, I significantly reduce this creepy feeling and so gain a significant amount of peace of mind.
teaneedz 9y ago
I think the point is that we will give our data and maybe trust to other companies. I don't care if Google is hurt or not. Another company that is more privacy-centric and not creepily tracking everything (anonymized or not) will benefit though.
- adjkant 9y ago
  Agreed, I'm not for/against Google here either. So is there a privacy-centered company that offers what Google does?
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    Depends what you're looking for. You won't find one single company with as many tendrils as Google... but that's okay, you should be really worried about a company with that many tendrils. If you need email/calendar/contacts, I recommend FastMail, for example, but you're gonna have to get your hardware and your other services from someone else.
CameronBanga 9y ago
"Hey, they did feed us our whole lives, and gave us room to run for a bit. And they're a farm, so it's your fault for not realizing they were going to kill you for meat the entire time. And we're practically halfway to the slaughter house right now, so why would you even try to put up a fight. Just give in and let them end it nice and quick."
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- adjkant 9y ago
  As opposed to going kicking and screaming, all to the same end? The metaphor is still flawed thoguh doesn't add anything to the conversation here. What exactly is the equivalent of death here? Google has all your data - what could they do with it that will affect you realistically? Or if someone malicious gets it? My point is that the likelihood of malicious activity is low, and so are the consequences. Am I missing something?
  - anger 9y ago
    We live in the information age, when information is the ultimate power. One danger is that with all that data about you and very advanced AI/ML tech Google can push you into making irrational purchase decisions (yeah, I know YOU are special, and advertising doesn't work on YOU) - e.g. buying a red sports car in your 40s. The other is this data will be available to NSA, GCHQ, etc. and their controlling governments, politicians, their wealthy sponsors/muppetmasters, etc. Do you trust the politicians in USA, or any other courtry? We are all man and not angels. Having all data on someone, you can always find shady stuff. Using that government and big business can make sure there are no influential union leaders, political parties offering real change, etc. It will be the end of (however imperfect) democracy.
    - name_for_now 9y ago
      So, outside of giving your data to government agencies, you're saying the worst thing Google can do is use ML to turn you into a consumer-zombie? While I mostly share your stance on this, that argument just seems completely ineffective (in part to the sense of exceptionalism you mention). Unless there's some poster child case of this that I'm unaware of, I'm not sure why "big scary ML-injected ads" keep getting brought up when there are potentially more valid concerns out there. Moving on, the remainder of the argument relies on the assumption of an antagonistic state, which if true, means you have a much bigger and immediate problem in the first place. Google or not, China seems to be doing pretty well as a surveillance state so that doesn't seem too convincing either. So I don't think that opinions will change without a string of high profile incidents that substantiate both of the concerns you mention.
qwerrtytest 9y ago
What are you talking about? Personally I use a few Google services - search, News, Products, YouTube, without logging in and don't see why you'd ever NEED an account. If you have to use something like their analytics or cloud, just spin up a VPN-ed VM.
__david__ 9y ago
I don't know, I think it's easier than you make it out to be. I don't use gmail, I have Duck Duck Go as my main search engine, I don't log into Google in my main browser. I just don't use anything on a regular basis that needs a google login. When I do, I open Chrome and log in there, so it doesn't taint my main browser. It hasn't affected my life or my career negatively (or at all, really).
- adjkant 9y ago
  That's a fair answer, and I'm sure one that many share. Thanks for addressing the question directly - I see how for a minority of users, the switch makes sense. I guess for me, I don't care enough to make all those changes. As a Chrome user, the sync across things is nice, and I enjoy the interface. I'll take the ease at risk of someone having my data in a catastrophic situation. Obviously, your choice makes great sense for you.
  - khn1 9y ago
    > I guess for me, I don't care enough to make all those changes. Up until I read this article, I used to feel the opposite way. I think there is some value in everyone having privacy and personal space. It gives us an opportunity to decompress and relieve some of the stresses of our increasingly connected world. However, discovering that Google (and others) are merging my online and offline behavior is making me doubt my viewpoint (the 70% figure really hit hard). If I can't escape it, why not just be apart of it? Surely life is a bit simpler: not having to pay for email, better search results (DDG vs Google)... It seems that whether you want to or not, you _will_ become part of the google/facebook/etc ecosystem. The other reason I used non-google services was in some ways to "hedge" my position. By using a non-google email with a custom domain, I am not tied down to any email provider (note: I bought the domain explicitly for email use). If I ever became unsatisfied with my email service, I could always switch to a different provider without the hassle of creating a new email address. Now, maybe this is just a defeatist view, but I think google/facebook are too big to fail. If google disappeared tomorrow or in 10 years, there would be chaos -too much of the world depends on it. Does this give them enough power to exist in perpetuity? Maybe it's time to just cave in and use all google services. It sure is cheaper.
xj9 9y ago
i don't avoid spy-tech companies to hurt them, i do it because i have a problem with being spied on. i also prefer to be a direct customer of the businesses whose services i utilize. it is important to me that our interests are aligned. why? i don't really know. personal preference? paranoia? doesn't really matter. i can't control google and i don't care about trying to influence them. i do my own thing and i make a lot of my own stuff. i like it that way. i like the independence.
lowglow 9y ago
Just use a different email provider (or roll your own), use duck duck go for web searches, don't use an android device. What else do they own? It's already becoming in vogue to move away from facebook/google and are actively looking to move towards other systems but there aren't a lot of quality options out there at the moment. If I could quickly spin up a remote server that had baked in panels for email, blog, and hooked up to mastadon, and a distributed reddit, I would probably go a step further. Further than that? Not sure what else I could do. Open to suggestions.
- retube 9y ago
  > don't use an android device what else is there? I don't want Apple.
trumpcoder 9y ago
This is a bunch of baloney. I have been off Google for many years now and I don't miss anything as far as I can tell. I still use their search engine but because I don't use gmail, I refuse Google's cookies and I change my IP address regularly, they cannot track me. The real question is the opposite. What is that those Google fanatics get from Google that they couldn't get otherwise that is worth giving Google their entire private lives? I never understood the psychological pull that Google has on people. Google is every bit as evil as any other profit seeking corporation. Only, whereas a company like say Pepsico, just wants you to buy their product, Google wants to spy on you every second of your life. Why is that people put up with this is beyond me.
zkms 9y ago
> I think putting more effort into trying to influence them towards "not being evil", as they say, is much more of a realistic move for someone with concerns over data, privacy, power/security of all this, etc. There's absolutely no chance for me to do that. I don't work at Google, I'm not rich nor influential. I have as much influence on what Google does as I have influence on the orbit of the planets. Voice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit,_Voice,_and_Loyalty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit,_Voice,_and_Loyalty) doesn't work. The only other option is Exit, and while it's shitty, it's not as utterly futile as Voice is.
paradite 9y ago
(OP of parent thread here) Okay. I understand your points. Actually I have posted the reasons for such considerations before on my blog: https://paradite.com/2016/02/18/stay-independent-problems-with-dependencies/ https://paradite.com/2016/02/18/stay-independent-problems-wi...
gub09 9y ago
My vote doesn't mean anything either.
TheBobinator 9y ago
Yes, you are missing something. You are the product. By using these services, your beliefs, habits, work, and by extension you yourself, are slowly being turned into a product for consumption by, at best, profiteering business executives, and at worst, totalitarian regimes. Does facebook want you to find and actually spend time with people? No, they want you hooked on their website endlessly posting cat pictures and looking at cat pictures from your "friends". By doing this, they make you lonely and isolate you from actual social contact; there's an entire generation of kids who think socialization is facebook. Facebook is loneliness and isolation and when they have you there, on facebook, isolated, they own you. Integrate your Facebook with Spotify? Someone pays spottily to run subversive, politically motivated songs. Who do you talk about that for reference? To know if the politics or history you are being sold are factual. Integrate your Facebook with Uber? Uber now knows your approximate income and how gullible you are, and will charge you a consummate rate. Integrate your Facebook with your New york times subscription? All of the MSM outlets use parametric targeting of readers to display articles to them think they will identify with. If someone pays them advertise to passionate democrats in order to get them to donate, chances are, you will see a never-ending news "feed" (Love how they call this a feed, like a cattle feed) of tabloid news which provides you with all kinds of "calls to action" in order to donate. You'll see stories on how chocolate cures cancer, then an ad from nestle. The more information they have on you, the more precise and intense the targeting. And you won't know, you can't know, because engaging in that degree of paranoia is crazy. What do you get by opting out completely? Advertising works by making you unhappy, by manipulating you to be unhappy, by whispering terrible and horrible things in your ear and hoping you buy a lifetime subscription of unhappiness. It tells young, beautiful women they need makeup in order to be beautiful. It tells ingenious IT geeks they aren't good enough without knowing framework X or having product Y. It tells fat people to buy dieting products that never work, that can't work, because if they were to cure the problem, they couldn't ever be sold another approach. Go search google for weight loss right now; How useful is ANY of that information to someone who wants to lose weight? The observation being, google is providing you with nothing, absolutely nothing, because you_are_the_product. While you are ingesting advertising, you will never be content. You will never be fulfilled. And worse, the more time you spend in the bubble, the more of what and who you are will be configured to be that unhappy, totally messed up amalgamation people the big businesses wanted you to be, and the longer it will take to de-consumerize. This is what psychological warfare has become; what the studies and sciences of psychographics, psychovisuals, psychoaudio, public relations, communication and marketing has become. If you opt out, you retain your freedom to think for yourself, act for yourself, and be yourself. You retain your ability to be content and happy. You get to have real friends. You no longer exist in the 7th circle of hell.
snarf 9y ago
It's also a matter of principle. You can always argue that if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear in support of more surveillance. But that's a slippery slope.
pb82 9y ago
You're not wrong but for me this kind of behavior just takes away the joy of technology. We don't completely own or control our devices. The services that we use all have hidden (or not so hidden) agendas and treat us as products. I'm still using an old Nexus 4 but I can't be bothered to replace it. Nothing on that market excites me anymore.
ionised 9y ago
> Google owns the internet at this point. For general use purposes, they ARE the internet. This is an obscene exaggeration. You are seriously overestimating how much significance Google has, and how irreplaceable they are in people's lives. If you've never seriously bothered looking into leaving the Google ecosystem though, I could see how you might think that way. The hardest part about transitioning away from Google for me personally, was the time it took to switch all my accounts from one email address (GMail) to others (Kolab, Posteo). It was still no more than a few hours of one day. After that, no more Google. I've been free of any Google accounts or services for around 4 years now and despite an initial headache, I don't feel like I'm missing any irreplaceable conveniences.