Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by scrollaway 1132 days ago
This shit is why I use Google products on my iphone: gmail, calendar (with reminders), contacts, etc. (Paid version at that: I pay for google workspace, even for personal use)

I'm not locked in to the Apple ecosystem: I can use it on my Linux desktop, or switch to an Android phone at any time.

2 comments

Is that a solution, or an additional poison?
Why would it be an additional poison?

It's solving problems in my life. I have a calendar, it's synced across all my devices, I have no fear of lock-in, and I have full control over my data without fearing about my account getting locked (as I pay for Workspace). Same for email, same for contacts.

What's the poison there?

You don’t have full control of your data. Google isn’t some Mecca of freedom, it’s an advertising company.
Google is a company providing me a service I pay for, with a contract I signed.

Do you think my data would be safer if I used UnknownCalMailCompany Inc, a company with zero track record in terms of privacy, safety, or long-term viability?

Even those whose risk assessment leads to them not wanting to give Google their personal data should be able to acknowledge that Google's pretty good at not leaking user data onto the Internet.

To the extent that they make their money from user data, their advantage is in keeping the underlying data for themselves, not in giving it to other people.

(I use a fair amount of Google tech, including paying for hardware and services, but I won't use their search engine or browser)

I guess since your only two options are, for some reason, "Google" and "UnknownCalMailCompany Inc," Google seems to be the choice for you.

Fortunately, many of the rest of us live in the real world where there are more than just those two options.

What’s your alternative? You’re not suggesting any.

And yes concretely, the two options if you want cloud are either the usual suspects (ms google apple), or unproven companies.

What's wrong with a flip calendar or a moleskin diary? Color me old-school but why does every single thing, especially your most private things need to be online?
Why do you care how I organise my life?

I value being able to ctrl+f my thousands of meetings across several years.

Sounds like you’ve just chosen to lock yourself into a different vendor, only one that integrates less elegantly with your device.
There is no vendor lockin with Google when it comes to hardware, the services even work in a browser
> There is no vendor lockin with Google when it comes to hardware

That’s not intentional though, it’s just that their hardware hasn’t been that successful.

I don't think you understand the definition of lock-in.
Yes.
So instead you're locked to Google. It's fine, many people are because of Gmail. Other people though would rather be locked to Apple.
I’m not even sort of locked to google.