Google just canceled the pixel pass service and it was the last straw for me. I had already moved email to proton but now Ive completed the calendar shift, search to ddg, and drive to something else. My Google speakers barely understand anything anymore and I’m just sick of investing in an eco system that may or may not be there in a year.
All that is off topic to the article which is nostalgic about Google reader and search without ads, but the topic is part of a larger problem. I used to feel that using Google was a project of humans categorizing information, building something amazing and now it feels like I’m shopping at Walmart when i use their products. The type of feeling I can only describe as “I need this thing now so I’m here, let’s get in and out as quick as possible before I spend more money or become annoyed with the environment”.
This isn’t to just shit on Google, but the point is I used to feel as I was a part of something bigger, humans creating a way to access the world’s information accurately and easily and now it’s much more complicated and that feeling is gone.
Yeah. I hate how stuck in I am in the google system. I’ve been migrating away too and ensuring whatever system I use next doesn’t tie me in or make it a pain to leave.
I’m struggling with a google photos alternative though. I’m currently just ignoring the problem and periodically using google takeout to make sure I have a local copy of all the photos.
The issue I have is my GF and parents are on my family account. So I use about 50GB of google photos and they use about 100GB combined. And I pay for the 200GB tier.
We’re all stuck now and you just need to pay indefinitely.
If you’re somewhat tech savvy, look into Nextcloud. I’m running a home server with 4 tb of storage that I share with my wife and adult kids. There are also iOs and android apps that you can use to add/delete/share files. All free and open source.
Nextcloud has an app called Memories that works well. Also, the only internet facing ports are 80 and 443, Nextcloud has a brute force app to protect against that risk.
Google just canceled the pixel pass service and it was the last straw for me. I had already moved email to proton but now Ive completed the calendar shift, search to ddg, and drive to something else. My Google speakers barely understand anything anymore and I’m just sick of investing in an eco system that may or may not be there in a year.
All that is off topic to the article which is nostalgic about Google reader and search without ads, but the topic is part of a larger problem. I used to feel that using Google was a project of humans categorizing information, building something amazing and now it feels like I’m shopping at Walmart when i use their products. The type of feeling I can only describe as “I need this thing now so I’m here, let’s get in and out as quick as possible before I spend more money or become annoyed with the environment”.
This isn’t to just shit on Google, but the point is I used to feel as I was a part of something bigger, humans creating a way to access the world’s information accurately and easily and now it’s much more complicated and that feeling is gone.
Maybe it’s all in my head.
Yeah. I hate how stuck in I am in the google system. I’ve been migrating away too and ensuring whatever system I use next doesn’t tie me in or make it a pain to leave.
I’m struggling with a google photos alternative though. I’m currently just ignoring the problem and periodically using google takeout to make sure I have a local copy of all the photos.
The issue I have is my GF and parents are on my family account. So I use about 50GB of google photos and they use about 100GB combined. And I pay for the 200GB tier.
We’re all stuck now and you just need to pay indefinitely.
If you’re somewhat tech savvy, look into Nextcloud. I’m running a home server with 4 tb of storage that I share with my wife and adult kids. There are also iOs and android apps that you can use to add/delete/share files. All free and open source.
I do have a home server and wanted to try Nextcloud but im not a big fan of exposing stuff to the internet for remote use (I prefer VPN).
How does nextcloud work with photos?
Nextcloud has an app called Memories that works well. Also, the only internet facing ports are 80 and 443, Nextcloud has a brute force app to protect against that risk.