Disgruntled Google users try to live a low-Google lifestyle

[nsane.forums]

How to scrape together a Web existence outside of Google's embrace.


Tired of giving Google services a reprieve? App.net is one of many potential service replacements.

Google’s services are undergoing some shape-shifting lately, with new features in places like Hangouts and the Latitude redundancy. Other services, like Reader, are simply disappearing.

Given the breadth and depth of Google's services, many people use at least one of them. But a pair of writers have become uncomfortable with how the company has not only permeated their lives, but how it keeps rearranging itself. Over the last few days, these two have laid out their plans for moving on.

Physicist and engineer Sam Whited wrote about his preferred Google service replacements: OpenStreetMap and MapBox for Maps, DuckDuckGo for search, App.net or Diaspora for Google+, and GNU IceCat or Firefox for Chrome. Whited added that he’s sticking with Gmail as he hasn’t been able to find a suitable free alternative.

Website designer Adam Wilcox said he solves the Gmail problem with Fastmail and that he also uses DuckDuckGo as a search engine. He uses Feedbin to replace Reader, iAWriter instead of Docs/Drive, and Skype via Adium instead of Google Talk. When it comes to blogging, “frankly anything is better than Blogger,” Wilcox said, and he offered a number of (also free) alternatives including WordPress and Tumblr. Wilcox himself uses a Jekyll blog with GitHub Pages—“not the easiest of products to use,” he admitted, but the system keeps his posts in a portable format.

Both Whited and Wilcox have a near-complete set of solutions for navigating away from Google—messaging, writing, photos, calendars, music, and videos are all taken care of. If the slouch toward Google+ isn’t turning out to really be your style either, the alternatives are worth considering.

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[calguyhunk]

Google's getting way too powerful :( One of the reasons the FFOS needs to be successful. But it prolly won't be :( BTW, can we at least get Mozilla Mail? With all the positives of Gmail but none of the Google spying? :dribble:

[DKT27]

Google's getting way too powerful :( One of the reasons the FFOS needs to be successful. But it prolly won't be :( BTW, can we at least get Mozilla Mail? With all the positives of Gmail but none of the Google spying? :dribble:

Mozilla's motto is free and open web. So why not. There should be a Mozilla Mail.

[smallhagrid]

Another great free email service is=> http://lavabit.com

And there used to be Netscape Mail, but it got killed off back when M$ AOL nuked netscrape...