6 ms·

But none work together so seamlessly. I'm with that guy: the ease of life is amazing with Google. I'll buy movie tickets online then get an alert about driving

But none work together so seamlessly. I'm with that guy: the ease of life is amazing with Google. I'll buy movie tickets online then get an alert about driving conditions and when I need to leave to arrive on time. That's something your open source maps program can't do because it doesn't have access to my email. And if it did I wouldn't use it because it'd be sitting there combing my email constantly which isn't efficient to do on my phone. Google's ability to personalize data is without compare honestly. It comes from being huge... And I'm OK with it.

Navarr 9y ago
Open source could work together flawlessly like that, but it'd need open, standard protocols to do so - and an adherance to them. A closed system just makes it easier for someone to do - because they don't have to care about any standard protocols and can hack together whatever they want and everyone will just deal with it. I'm not really arguing against you - but I think it's important to note that what we have is possible, just not _right now_. Of course, _right now_ is when we all want it.
- zanny 9y ago
  It has always bugged me how desktop Linux has never developed a "share" feature akin to what Android has - URIs and URLs that get indexed against a database of services to handle them, then presented to the user as consumers of the data. There have been a lot of attempts at dbus-based services to advertise or invoke other processes for various tasks but it never became as pervasive as share buttons and never had the UX.
  - Navarr 9y ago
    Reminds me a lot of some attempts by google to create a JavaScript API for that sort of thing. [1]: https://www.w3.org/TR/web-intents/ https://www.w3.org/TR/web-intents/ [2]: https://github.com/WICG/web-share https://github.com/WICG/web-share
0x737368 9y ago
But you need to consider the amount of data Google is amassing from people using solely their services. And then sells that data to advertisers. If this trend continues eventually they'd be able to know more about you than even the closest of your friends. Is this really such a great price to pay for your privacy? For it to be easier to look up your friend's phone number from your email list?
- home_boi 9y ago
  Data selling from big tech companies is the least of your worries tbh. It's all presented in aggregate form and protected very well. It isn't even really data selling, although if you want to argue semantics and model it as such, it would be data selling limited in scope in that the only action an advertiser can use the data for is presenting you with an ad. It's the financial industry that you have to worry about. The finance industry has atrocious security and access to very personal information on you. Finance companies (your bank, credit card, etc.) sell your information to the highest bargainer with much higher privileges (physical mail and junk emails) and don't allow you to opt out. Edit: And also the health care industry. Super personal information with archaic tech and paper thin security. Data might not be sold but the risk of bad parties gaining access to your information is high.
- cidibe 9y ago
  I trust Google for privacy a lot more than I'd trust 10 different little specialized services that are fighting for their lives financially and don't have the decade of experience as the biggest target on the planet with no bad breaches.
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    And that's a big part of the problem: People don't realize privacy is essentially about fragmenting your information. 10 different little specialized services are far more private, even if they're subject to more breaches. Thinks like your coworkers not knowing every last detail of your family, nobody you know IRL knowing about your weird online kinks, etc. Your privacy is largely reliant on your different social circles being separated, your various identities being apart, and Google has made it so they can link all of your data together. (EDIT @joshuamorton: Security and privacy are actually distinctly different concepts with very different implications. A former Googler told me this is not well understood inside the company.)
dasil003 9y ago
...until they lock your account without giving you a reason and without recourse. This is why AmaGooFace is so dangerous, because the way things are going they will have unprecedented insight and control into global populations. Multinational corporations are a much more dangerous threat to humanity's future freedom than governments.

Navarr 9y ago

Open source could work together flawlessly like that, but it'd need open, standard protocols to do so - and an adherance to them. A closed system just makes it easier for someone to do - because they don't have to care about any standard protocols and can hack together whatever they want and everyone will just deal with it. I'm not really arguing against you - but I think it's important to note that what we have is possible, just not _right now_. Of course, _right now_ is when we all want it.

zanny 9y ago
It has always bugged me how desktop Linux has never developed a "share" feature akin to what Android has - URIs and URLs that get indexed against a database of services to handle them, then presented to the user as consumers of the data. There have been a lot of attempts at dbus-based services to advertise or invoke other processes for various tasks but it never became as pervasive as share buttons and never had the UX.
- Navarr 9y ago
  Reminds me a lot of some attempts by google to create a JavaScript API for that sort of thing. [1]: https://www.w3.org/TR/web-intents/ https://www.w3.org/TR/web-intents/ [2]: https://github.com/WICG/web-share https://github.com/WICG/web-share

0x737368 9y ago

But you need to consider the amount of data Google is amassing from people using solely their services. And then sells that data to advertisers. If this trend continues eventually they'd be able to know more about you than even the closest of your friends. Is this really such a great price to pay for your privacy? For it to be easier to look up your friend's phone number from your email list?

home_boi 9y ago
Data selling from big tech companies is the least of your worries tbh. It's all presented in aggregate form and protected very well. It isn't even really data selling, although if you want to argue semantics and model it as such, it would be data selling limited in scope in that the only action an advertiser can use the data for is presenting you with an ad. It's the financial industry that you have to worry about. The finance industry has atrocious security and access to very personal information on you. Finance companies (your bank, credit card, etc.) sell your information to the highest bargainer with much higher privileges (physical mail and junk emails) and don't allow you to opt out. Edit: And also the health care industry. Super personal information with archaic tech and paper thin security. Data might not be sold but the risk of bad parties gaining access to your information is high.
cidibe 9y ago
I trust Google for privacy a lot more than I'd trust 10 different little specialized services that are fighting for their lives financially and don't have the decade of experience as the biggest target on the planet with no bad breaches.
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  And that's a big part of the problem: People don't realize privacy is essentially about fragmenting your information. 10 different little specialized services are far more private, even if they're subject to more breaches. Thinks like your coworkers not knowing every last detail of your family, nobody you know IRL knowing about your weird online kinks, etc. Your privacy is largely reliant on your different social circles being separated, your various identities being apart, and Google has made it so they can link all of your data together. (EDIT @joshuamorton: Security and privacy are actually distinctly different concepts with very different implications. A former Googler told me this is not well understood inside the company.)

dasil003 9y ago

...until they lock your account without giving you a reason and without recourse. This is why AmaGooFace is so dangerous, because the way things are going they will have unprecedented insight and control into global populations. Multinational corporations are a much more dangerous threat to humanity's future freedom than governments.