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I disagree on search: I use DDG most of the time, and it uses Bing. I'll turn to Google (using "!g" in DDG) occasionally if I'm not finding what I want, but fo
by shiroiuma 3y ago
I disagree on search: I use DDG most of the time, and it uses Bing. I'll turn to Google (using "!g" in DDG) occasionally if I'm not finding what I want, but for most searches, DDG is sufficient.
However, I'll also say that sometimes the alternatives to Google aren't very good, though they do of course exist. Anything that requires an Apple device is a no-go for me, for instance, so things like Apple Maps are out. Google Maps for me is a must-have, for instance; I use it for navigating Tokyo on a daily basis and something like OsmAnd isn't going to work here at all (Google Maps finds businesses, tells me when they're open, and tells me exactly how to get there on public transit.) Google Docs is pretty useful for some things too; I don't use it for anything too important (I use LibroOffice at home for that), but for something I want to be able to access from my phone or work computer, it's great. The competition seems to be MS Office 365, and I'm not going to use that: I hate MS and I see no reason to pay for a subscription service here when Google's free offering is fine. Google Calendar is really useful too, and lets me share my calendar with others easily.
Comcast is truly evil and horrible, but since the US loves monopolies and lets companies like Comcast establish local/regional monopolies, people there are stuck with them. In better-run countries like where I now live, this doesn't happen, because there's tons of competition for internet service.
YouTube really is pretty close to a monopoly though; it's not like you can just go to Vimeo and find the same videos.