I cannot believe that they would make this opt-out rather than opt-in. I love most google services, but they're really starting to go too far with stuff like this.
Just like Buzz was opt-in? Just like various Facebook "feature" launches have been opt-in? /sarcasm
Actions speak louder than words. And Google's "social" choices as well as Facebook's (and others) have been making it clear that they favour, with a strong arm, "co-opt" over "opt-in".
Unfortunate, but as users we should continue forward with eyes open.
P.S. My parents just upgraded their phones from the original Droids to Moto X. During the process, Google and Motorola worked very hard to ram Google+ profile creations down their throats. Dad eventually found a non-obvious and unannotated flow through the order/configuration web site that let him complete the orders without activating Google+.
There are parts of Google I still respect, but I've about had it with their newer "social", panopticon front end.
Actions speak louder than words. And Google's "social" choices as well as Facebook's (and others) have been making it clear that they favour, with a strong arm, "co-opt" over "opt-in".
Unfortunate, but as users we should continue forward with eyes open.
P.S. My parents just upgraded their phones from the original Droids to Moto X. During the process, Google and Motorola worked very hard to ram Google+ profile creations down their throats. Dad eventually found a non-obvious and unannotated flow through the order/configuration web site that let him complete the orders without activating Google+.
There are parts of Google I still respect, but I've about had it with their newer "social", panopticon front end.