Filed Under: Goodbye Google Series, Instructables 01/25/2012

Goodbye Google: Why I’m Untethering from All Things Google

What have I gotten myself into?

Yesterday on Twitter I was engaged in a series of conversations that was spawned by this tweet I’d sent out:

In fact, I am going to make a concerted effort to untether my online life from Google, using many of the resources mentioned during that barrage of tweets that were going back and forth last night. This is going to be a fairly extensive series of posts, with one coming each week until I do one of the following:

  1. Completely untether from Google.
  2. Give up on the process.

Either way, I’ll complete the series. The end result is going to be as mysterious to me as it is for you. I’ve already got a few resources on hand to get me started, including Ben Brooks’s post on how to opt out of Google for search and Marco Arment’s outline of how he uses his own domains for email rather than going through Gmail. And that’s just the beginning.

Why am I doing this? It’s not that I’m unaware that Google has my information that I’ve already offered by using their services – I’m very aware of that and know that can’t be undone. Nor do I expressly want it to be. I just don’t want to give them any more information considering how they’ve deviated off course.

Sure, the search stuff bugs the hell out of me, but that’s not the sole reason either. I’m not denying it’s one of the bigger reasons I’m embarking on this project, but it’s only one of many.

The primary reason I’m leaving Google behind?

I don’t want to have all my eggs in one basket.

That may sound counter-intuitive to what a productivityist like myself should be saying, especially considering that a lot of what Google offers serves to improve productivity. Having fewer places to go and fewer places to look for stuff generally means a better chance at being more productive.

But I like knowing that the places I get to look (and go) for my stuff is able to be better controlled by me. I don’t get that with Google – at least not anymore. Sure, that may never have been the case, but it’s a hell of a lot more transparent on that front now.

I’m all for one basket…when it’s your basket.1

So I’m going to do my darndest to leave Google in the dust, and I hope that by sharing this project with you that you’ll be able to have something to help you do the same should you want to. Here’s the links to the entire series below (links will be activated as each post is published):

1Also a reason I use a native task manager like OmniFocus over web apps.

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sonicvision
sonicvision 5 pts

mikevardy I'm not as up on this as you and the other commenters, so I don't quite get the whole deal here. I know that Google announced some privacy changes the other day (which I didn't examine), and also am not aware of the degraded Google search that you mention, but am curious about that). What I do know, is I have too much invested in youtube to quit it (though I do use vimeo too, but not as much yet, due to certain limitations there). I also found that picasa web albums worked better for me than flickr, so I have too much invested there as well. If not for those two areas, I could live without the rest just fine. Regarding flickr and picasa, there are pros and cons to both, and I would prefer and hybrid of the two (I thought Google was going to take over flickr, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case). Currently, as a Blackberry user, I had removed all Google apps except Maps (but have been using BB Maps more so lately) already, due to lack of updates, and functionality. Interesting to read your articles on this, and the comments as well.

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mikevardy
mikevardy 11 pts moderator

sonicvision I rarely share photos online anyway -- in terms of storage, that is. So Flickr is pretty sparsely populated, anyway. Same with YouTube.But if you're firmly entrenched in both, then for me it is how you access the data there that is what I'm looking at. Showyou lets me see videos shared there without "going to there" at all. Uploading is another matter, of course.I've already found some stumbling blocks along the way, and my next article (#2 in the series) will illustrate the workarounds -- if any -- I've put in place.The fact you can't opt out of YouTube is a bit disconserting to me, though. Just like Google Voice.

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cmsmith
cmsmith 6 pts

mikevardy I think that the idea of you being control is the most important thing. Having control of your stuff means that you have options.

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mikevardy
mikevardy 11 pts moderator

cmsmith And it';s already begun...

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forsgren
forsgren 6 pts

I've been thinking about doing this as well, it will be interesting to read about you journey. One of the things that would cause some trouble for me is Google Reader, not because I use the web service, but because Reeder only syncs against Google Reader.

I'm looking forward to your upcoming posts!

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MSchechter
MSchechter 626 pts

forsgren I think Mr. Reader can resolve that. I've heard Eddie Smith say good things about it.

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forsgren
forsgren 6 pts

MSchechter Mr. Reader is iPad only, Reeder is for iPad, iPhone and OS X. Mr. Reader also depends on Google Reader =/

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mikevardy
mikevardy 11 pts moderator

forsgrenMSchechter This one has been the toughest to look at so far...there's not a lot of options out there that I am fond of right now.

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aewhite
aewhite 7 pts

For the last three weeks I have been formulating how I will do this as well. The quality of search results had been degrading for some time - and with all the recent news and changes it seems like the best thing to do. Looking forward to these posts.

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