Resist Google now

Last week my buddy Paul wrote an entertaining deconstruction of Google’s communication in the wake of a recent Google Apps outage.  There’s a subtle dismissive tone to the whole thing that I think is revealing.

I posted a little whoopity-doo about Chrome, Google’s new browser, yesterday.  I have no plans to download it.  There are numerous reports of it being a resource hog, and there are weird little usability glitches (like its treatment of bookmarks) that you’d think Google wouldn’t have fumbled.  Moreover, it comes with one of Google’s scary-as-all-hell EULAs.  (And like I said, I still love Firefox.)

There’s an old saying about putting all your eggs in one basket.  Whether it’s email, blogging, word processing, browsing, maps, image management, file storage, or whatever, Google wants very much to be your basket.  Worse, they tell you right to your face (if you bother to look) that yeah, they’ll gather a hell of a lot of information from you as you amble about inside said basket.

I don’t think Google is evil.  I do think Google is very powerful, and getting more so.  (And there’s definitely a certain we’re-Google-whatcha-gonna-do flavor to the email Paul received.)

I’m the sort of fellow who believes that the scope of information collection to which Google aspires will inevitably be bad for individual liberty.  Even if there is no intent to abuse it at the outset, eventually someone more powerful than I will always recognize its potential for such.  (Ever examined all of the little subclauses and what-not in software/service agreements that say things like “in the course of a law enforcement investigation”?)

Google’s gotten too big.  The time is now.  If they offer something you want to use, chances are there’s an alternative or three out there.  Please investigate them thoroughly.  I believe we’re at the point at which “just because” is sufficient reason not to use a Google offering.

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