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Ask HN: What is a good Google replacement for my parents?

3 points by Sytten 7y ago

I am sure I am not alone with parents that are not too tech savvy, but need to use the basics: calendar, contacts, mail, file storage and photos. Google products are great, but not so much for the privacy. I particularly refuse to let them use Google Photo and Drive for anything sensitive (facial recognition, no thanks). Even my mom found it creepy when google searches lead to related ads on her tablet. I am trying to find an alternative that would an all-in-one solution that meets their (simple) needs and my privacy concerns. Any idea is appreciated!

z0mbie42 7y ago
Hi, I'm the creator of Bloom[0]. It's a an end to end encrypted Drive, Calendar, Notes, contacts, Gallery... Within 1 month I'm about to release the native apps (currently it's only a webapp, non encrypted), with paying plans. It will be something like 6€ / m for 100GB, 11€ for 420GB and 21€ for 1TB. It's also 100% open source[1]. [0] https://bloom.sh https://bloom.sh [1] https://gitlab.com/bloom42/bloom https://gitlab.com/bloom42/bloom
- Sytten 7y ago
  This is interesting, I will keep an eye out for when the apps are released! Some questions/nits: - Products pages like FAQ don't exists (404) - Where do you plan to host the servers?
  - z0mbie42 7y ago
    Yes, I apologize for the 404 of the FAQ, it's currently moving really fast, and I have forgot to remove the link till the FAQ is ready. The data will all be stored in France, in a Scaleway datacenter[0], Maybe with an offsite encrypted backup on AWS Glacier, but I'm not sure for this one. [0] https://scaleway.com https://scaleway.com
stevenalowe 7y ago
While Google has many fine products, I don’t think any of them can replace your parents. :)
- Sytten 7y ago
  Agreed, not the best sentence ever written :)
helph67 7y ago
I have been using Fastmail for many years and suggest that they provide an excellent service. They offer a free account for users to try them out but by paying a small fee you get so much more. I have no connection with them other than being a satisfied client. https://www.fastmail.com/ https://www.fastmail.com/
mceachen 7y ago
Getting your photos and videos swept into one tidy pile, with a fast, fun website that you host is what I’m building. Read more here: https://photostructure.com/about/introducing-photostructure/ https://photostructure.com/about/introducing-photostructure/