2 ms·

idk why that would be google's concern or how anyone but you could answer. what are you asking for?

AStonesThrow 2y ago
Well, Google's concern may be a two-way path for import+export for people like me who did wish to migrate accounts. That seems the most useful and ideal situation, because Google gives you control of your data, yet they get to keep you in their system. Export functions usually anticipate the format of the importing system: "do you want this contact exported in Outlook format, Apple, Google?" "Calendar export for iCal, etc." "Image export in jpg, png, webp format?" "Save as PDF, .docx?" So it's utterly strange to be exporting stuff where there's no complementary import function, like at all. Like Google itself has no such thing. You can't import back to Photos, or YouTube, or Gmail, or Workspaces. Forget it. Upload new content or GTFO. That's just lock-in. But it's more like "malicious compliance": "here's your data! it's really yours! we let you have it! good luck now!" I see that there are some guides on how to use Photos Takeout data and merge it back into something useful, reconstruct an EXIF or whatever, but they seem quite ad hoc and that addresses only one out of many products/services. There's simply no way to recreate YouTube accounts. I've often simply built a playlist in one account, and/or I subscribed to dozens of channels, then I've got an alt account and I want to migrate all that over. There's no possible recourse but manually reconstructing all of it, click by click. Sure, not Google's concern, I suppose. They've got your data, they don't need to offer Takeout service at all. It's mystifying to me why they would, other than checking a compliance box. It would seem that if "Import" were easier they would gain more users going through there, yes? Unusable exports are painless to them, because they can be sure no customers would just set up shop on MS 365 in an hour, but lack of Import functions must be detrimental to adoption rates.

Well, Google's concern may be a two-way path for import+export for people like me who did wish to migrate accounts. That seems the most useful and ideal situation, because Google gives you control of your data, yet they get to keep you in their system. Export functions usually anticipate the format of the importing system: "do you want this contact exported in Outlook format, Apple, Google?" "Calendar export for iCal, etc." "Image export in jpg, png, webp format?" "Save as PDF, .docx?" So it's utterly strange to be exporting stuff where there's no complementary import function, like at all. Like Google itself has no such thing. You can't import back to Photos, or YouTube, or Gmail, or Workspaces. Forget it. Upload new content or GTFO. That's just lock-in. But it's more like "malicious compliance": "here's your data! it's really yours! we let you have it! good luck now!" I see that there are some guides on how to use Photos Takeout data and merge it back into something useful, reconstruct an EXIF or whatever, but they seem quite ad hoc and that addresses only one out of many products/services. There's simply no way to recreate YouTube accounts. I've often simply built a playlist in one account, and/or I subscribed to dozens of channels, then I've got an alt account and I want to migrate all that over. There's no possible recourse but manually reconstructing all of it, click by click. Sure, not Google's concern, I suppose. They've got your data, they don't need to offer Takeout service at all. It's mystifying to me why they would, other than checking a compliance box. It would seem that if "Import" were easier they would gain more users going through there, yes? Unusable exports are painless to them, because they can be sure no customers would just set up shop on MS 365 in an hour, but lack of Import functions must be detrimental to adoption rates.