If you remove the scary factor, Google is great

[MonKENy]

so pretending that google isnt data mining and doesnt want to own your soul

Just everything they do is fantastic product. The way the search engine works, the way gmail integrates with google drive integrates with calendar integrates with google +, all the the free services they offer, all the app support they give, how innovative they try to be with everything. Google Fiber, Google maps, google glasses.

I can search right from the search bar anything I need. lets say a contacts name. It will pull up from my contacts the info, plus all emails or documents that are associated with that name.

I dont know I have to say if it wasnt that they eat or info like skittles I would have nothing bad to say about them.

Yes I want to slobber Googles knob say what you want.

OK let the google hate commence

 

[SheHateMe]

Don't get scroogled!




I think Google is great, tbh.

 

[BUTCH1]

What in the hell are you rambling about? off your meds??..

 

[Farang]

Yea, scary though. Google knows more about me than any other human being will ever know. They know me better than I probably know myself.

 

[Red Squirrel]

What scares me about them is how they somehow know stuff about my real life.

For example when Google+ first came out I decided to check it out, it already had a bunch of people I know IRL listed as my friends. WTF?! Lot of these people I don't even talk to through the internet, most were old coworkers and stuff. Closer friends were not in there, oddly.

The second WTF is when I went to rent tools at Home Depot on my credit card and then for a couple weeks I kept seeing tool rental related ads all over the internet. WTF?! They are mining way more data than they should. My only theory for that one is they probably have access to my credit card statements (probably some deal with credit card companies/banks) so they were able to see that this card which is owned by the same name as my google account (my real name... stupid move, I know) and same location so they put two and two together and figure it's the same person.

All this is automated, but still rather scary.

Also not sure if I like the idea that my new phone (nexus 4) syncs contacts to my Google account. Makes me wonder if all my contacts will start getting telemarketing calls and stuff now because they probably sell all that info. What ever happen to the old days of being able to just sync to a computer?

The only thing more scary than Google is the US government, since they are going full blown "person of interest" style with those droids.

 

[Farang]

snip.

I think it's likely you searched for whatever you were buying at Home Depot. Maybe not that day, maybe not the exact item, but home improvement was on the brain for awhile and you searched for something.

 

[MonKENy]

Also not sure if I like the idea that my new phone (nexus 4) syncs contacts to Google account. Makes me wonder if all my contacts will start getting telemarketing calls and stuff now because they probably sell all that info. What ever happen to the old days of being able to just sync to a computer?

The only thing more scary than Google is the US government, since they are going full blown "person of interest" style with those droids.

Sure I just say I like Google and I Get called crazy. Red goes on a paranoid rant and does he get called out? Nooooooo

ANy way lol. You are using a phone created by Google and wonder why it syncs your Google info? Also you know you can turn that off right?

Also for anyone curious you can get a full report emailed to you every month on how your account is being used. Also you can see all your account activity from your dashboard. There I's still allot of transparency with Google. I know there is allot of fear because Google has the ability to become evil very easily. But I truly think that they do not have any malicious intent at this time. I think they are at present just a bunch of creative people who just want to do what they are doing. I'd rather it be Google than Apple or Microsoft

 

[Broheim]

how innovative they try to be with everything

google aren't the least bit innovative, all they've ever done is taken ideas of other people and tried to come up with a better product that would help further their primary objective(moar data!).

not that I have anything against them for doing so, quite often this has benifited me immensely, but the notion that they innovate irks me.

 

[shortylickens]

Actually the search engine has been sucking lately. Bing gives better results.
And I was foolish enough to install a birthday facebook app. Didnt like it, uninstalled.
I still have some idiots birthday on my android calendar, I cant delete it. So no, the integration has now gone too far.

Also, after all these years they STILL have not integrated the Gmail calendar tasks with the Android apps. You need a separate app to look at those tasks, or you need to keep two separate lists of tasks, which kinda defeats the whole purpose of having it sync.

I like being able to type up tasks and calendar events on the computer with a keyboard, and look at all them easily on my phone.

 

[lxskllr]

Everything is great when you remove property x. Being data mined out the ass, and having it handed to the government is a pretty big x though.

 

[darkewaffle]

I wasn't aware it was scary.

 

[Fritzo]

Here's what I have to say about people scared to death about data mining:

When you're allowed to use a product for free, it actually means that YOU'RE the product. The company makes money by learning what aggregate groups of people (not individuals) tend to like and regional trends are happening, then does targeted advertising based on that data. This data is collected from key words on websites, search information entered, and heat mapping on websites. Again, NO INDIVIDUAL DATA IS COLLECTED.

When you talk to some of the more paranoid or older people, they're convinced there's some fat kid sitting in a dark room opening each message in Gmail before it gets delivered to you. I also get the feeling that the people most paranoid about being watched are the ones that search for the kinkiest stuff

 

[Blackjack200]

Everything is great when you remove property x. Being data mined out the ass, and having it handed to the government is a pretty big x though.

I think that the government part is starting to improve a little, Twitter is leading the way in refusing to provide data without a warrent and that's putting some pressure on Google, Facebook, etc. But yeah, still no where near where it needs to be.

I use gmail because I signed up for it when I was in college and not as concerned about privacy, and it seems like it would be a real pain to make a change now. I've resisted using Google+, Google Drive, and their other services though. It's a great technology company and I would love to pay for the private use of their services, but that is not an option.

 

[Blackjack200]

Here's what I have to say about people scared to death about data mining:

When you're allowed to use a product for free, it actually means that YOU'RE the product. The company makes money by learning what aggregate groups of people (not individuals) tend to like and regional trends are happening, then does targeted advertising based on that data. This data is collected from key words on websites, search information entered, and heat mapping on websites. Again, NO INDIVIDUAL DATA IS COLLECTED.

When you talk to some of the more paranoid or older people, they're convinced there's some fat kid sitting in a dark room opening each message in Gmail before it gets delivered to you. I also get the feeling that the people most paranoid about being watched are the ones that search for the kinkiest stuff

I understand that, but I still don't like it. It puts the advertising industry in the position of financing everything, which guarantees you will be exposed to TONS of ads, which I don't like.

 

[ImpulsE69]

All Google really knows about me is that I like electronics and big boobs...and most people who know me know these things already.

 

[Vdubchaos]

What's even more scary is that Google can and WILL put up your private data at some point in the future (for your family to access).

And Government can request ANY of your data at ANY time and WILL get access to it pretty quickly.

 

[ImpulsE69]

You dont have to use it for that. That's why I don't understand people who do this then complain. Keep your activities and public things separate. For my non family/non professional accounts, I never put my name in them or associate them with my real name in any way.

Companies can't be trusted and even if they can, the government can't. Recognize Google for what it is and use it with that thought in mind. It's that simple.

...now back to googling how to make homemade bombs.......for the 4th....I like big bangs too...no really...

 

[lxskllr]

I understand that, but I still don't like it. It puts the advertising industry in the position of financing everything, which guarantees you will be exposed to TONS of ads, which I don't like.

Not just ads. Maybe it'll be sold to your insurance company, and you get higher rates. Perhaps it'll be sold to a prospective employer, and you won't get a job. Ads are the most trivial detriment to using centralized services. That's like complaining about the Third Reich because they hang swastikas everywhere.

 

[Red Storm]

I find it funny that some people seem to think only Google is mining information.

 

[darkewaffle]

Not just ads. Maybe it'll be sold to your insurance company, and you get higher rates. Perhaps it'll be sold to a prospective employer, and you won't get a job. Ads are the most trivial detriment to using centralized services. That's like complaining about the Third Reich because they hang swastikas everywhere.

Maybe it'll be sold to your insurance company, and you get lower rates. Perhaps it'll be sold to a prospective employer, and they'll pursue you for a position.

Barring the fact this is all crazy talk anyway, the only way people get treated negatively by a business is if they suck enough to have it coming in the first place or conceal something they shouldn't have.

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe it'll be sold to your insurance company, and you get lower rates. Perhaps it'll be sold to a prospective employer, and they'll pursue you for a position.

Barring the fact this is all crazy talk anyway, the only way people get treated negatively by a business is if they suck enough to have it coming in the first place or conceal something they shouldn't have.

The "nothing to hide" argument is bullshit, and I'd expect better from someone who frequents a tech forum.

 

[Deeko]

Not just ads. Maybe it'll be sold to your insurance company, and you get higher rates. Perhaps it'll be sold to a prospective employer, and you won't get a job. Ads are the most trivial detriment to using centralized services. That's like complaining about the Third Reich because they hang swastikas everywhere.

Ahh there you are Godwin, it didn't take long.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I couldn't care less about the data mining, Google Now more than makes up for it and I get a ton of other great services for free on top of it.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I couldn't care less about the data mining, Google Now more than makes up for it and I get a ton of other great services for free on top of it.

I'm so glad my life is not chaotic enough that I don't have a need for that.

 

[IronWing]

So Google is like god, only useful?