I’m done with Google.
I was already annoyed on 9/11.
First they didn’t change their logo to commemorate the anniversary, again, then they notified me that “today is a day for service” and offered me links to help President Feckless carry out his shameful day of service crap.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
But then came the Google Updater that felt the need to install itself.
So now the camel’s pretty much dead.
So, it’s over. It will be a slow migration, but I’ve already added Bing to my shortcut bar, which is taking some getting used to.
Since I decided to get into the web hosting game, I’m planning to buy a domain name and move my email there. Any of you loyal readers who want web based email at my new domain are welcome.
And I’ll move the blog over to a new name/location at some point too. Hopefully I can take my content with me.
Now I need to find alternatives to the other Google stuff I use.
- Google Reader – Looking for a decent RSS reader. Preferably web based.
- iGoogle – Some type of aggregator/control panel like thing. Maybe I’ll build my own at my new domain. That could be cool.
- Google Voice Chat – Yeah, there’s skype, but anything else out there I should be looking at?
- Maps – The new version of maps on Bing looks pretty good. It should suffice.
So, I’m taking suggestions for product alternatives, new blog names, and an email domain. Ideas? Post in the comments, or shoot me a gmail. While I’m still there.
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Good luck with the migration. If you plan on moving the blog content to another provider, I would start backing up the blog content now. From reading other peoples experiences, Google does not make it an easy transition.
As to the RSS Aggregator? If you are looking for web based, then unfortunately Google is the way to go. Otherwise, Firefox has RSS support and a few addons that mimic some of the iGoogle features.
I would stick to Skype. Though if you play games, I would recommend you pick up TeamSpeak or Ventrilo; Steam also has built in voice chat.
For those of us who are still too invested, or have no where else to turn for email/homepage/searching needs, I found an option that may or may not do anything against their data-collection.
When you log into iGoogle, click My Account at the top-right next to the log out option. Then click Web History. You can delete and "pause" it's ability to record your searches.
Again, I'm not claiming to know if this actually does anything or if it's just to appease the non-worshippers.