Giving up on Google
To organize it, Google first has to collect it, and to organize all of it, it has to collect you. All of you. If that's a concern, and it's leading to your having second thoughts about your involvement with Google, then switching to iPhone can be of tremendous benefit to you. With the iPhone, you can use the best of Google services if you want to, but you can also easily live Google-free. And if you're not yet sure, the iPhone lets you keep all your options open.
Everything has a price. With Apple, you typically pay them money, and they sell you premium products and services in return. That type of cost and relationship is easy to understand.
With Google, you typically pay them attention and data, and they give you free or cheap products and services in return. That cost and relationship is harder to understand.
At least I only started really understanding it after the Google IO keynote:
I'm not the only one thinking or re-thinking about Google and its reach these days. Marco Arment:
Marco didn't believe the benefits of Google services outweighed the flaws for him, so he moved to other services. In some cases, free services like DuckDuckGo, in others paid services like FastMail and MailRoute.
John Gruber shared similar thoughts on Daring Fireball:
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iMore and all of Mobile Nations works on Google Accounts, so I can't avoid Google regardless of any personal concerns or feelings. I long ago moved my personal stuff from Google to iCloud, however, and I haven't had any problems or regrets since.
More importantly, I consider it a huge advantage that I, as an iPhone owner, can choose whether I want to use Google services or not. And I can choose on a service-by-service basis. (I can even choose the best of Microsoft if that's what I prefer.)
Moreover, no matter what I choose, I get a phenomenally good experience. I can use as few or as many of Apple, Google, or Microsoft's services as I want, and I can change the mix any time I want.
Regardless of what you think of the relative value of money compared to data, that level of choice is invaluable. And it's only one of the many great reasons to switch to iPhone.
Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.