‘Morale is at an all-time low’: Ex-Googler writes scathing latter slamming layoffs and ‘eroded’ culture::An ex-Googler wrote a 1,500-word letter criticizing the firm and CEO Sundar Pichai’s lack of “visionary leadership.”

  • spiderkle@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Google’s decisions in the time Pichai has been CEO, have been anti-consumer all the way. Not the fun conpany it used to be, now users are being forced out of adblockers and a products promise is abandoned way too often.

    • Pohl@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I am probably the perfect google customer. I used google search when it still had an exclamation point. I got my gmail account by invite in ‘04. Downloaded chrome on day one. I used nexus/pixel phones almost exclusively

      Today, ddg search on Firefox. I am using an iPhone. I still have the gmail account but I am slowly migrating away from it. I am done with google. They don’t produce anything that has any value for me anymore.

      • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        Big oof on the iphone, mate. You can have an android phone with CFW that doesn’t have all of the google telemetry and bloatware.

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            What works on iPhone though? You can’t even change your ringtone to your own sound without having to draw your wallet.

            Just stick with bloatware android then

            • WarshipJesus@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              That’s not true at all. GarageBand will let you make tones directly on the device if you want to.

              That said, yeah, get a grapheneos device and cut google out completely, it works just fine.

            • zeppo@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I haven’t remotely cared about a custom ringtone in about 14 years.

      • rckclmbr@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I’m doing all the same as you

        What I’m not moving away from though is Google Maps and Photos. No good alternatives exist

        • physicswizard
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          1 year ago

          For photos, I have been using Immich, and have been very impressed. It has pretty much all the features I want (automatic backup, chronological timeline, mobile/web app, face tagging, semantic search, albums, sharing, etc). It’s a server you self-host though, so setting it up might be a pain if you’ve never done something like that before.

        • marksson@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          About Maps, same here. Even looked into paid alternatives, and… There’s not really much of value. I’m disappointed.

        • Keith@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Ente? Just started subscribing though… seems good. 99c for base plan is pretty attractive.

          • rckclmbr@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Looks promising, I’ll keep my eye on it, might give it a go with some photos to test it out. I wish it weren’t e2e encrypted though, I actually like a lot of the features Google provides (tagging/grouping by feature, looking back, etc)

        • Evotech@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I moved to proton mail personally after having Gmail since forever.

          Took a year and I pay 40usd per year but worth it

          • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            How safe / stable is proton mail? Say they go under in 5 years are you just fucked? Or is your setup such that you could move easily? Also is your email just xxxx@proton.com? Or something longer?

            • ours@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I don’t have a crystal ball but Proton is the go-to, privacy-focused email provider. They are based in Switzerland.

              They likely have a way for you to export your emails if they go under or use a desktop email client to archive them.

              • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                It’s less the backup more all the stuff linked to your account. All the sign-ups if they go down fast… You’re fucked 😕

                • Flashoflight@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I pay for LastPass and would never go back. I know there are other options that people will point out but I’m too invested now haha.

                  I highly recommend getting LastPass or something similar. It was much easier to make the transition away from google products

            • Evotech@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I have my own domain. So I’d lose my emails but I could just move the address. I’d recommend that for sure. In case you want to move to another mail provider down the line it’s super simple.

              I think it’s a bit extra to have a custom domain but it’s super worth it.

        • milkjug@lemmy.wildfyre.dev
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          1 year ago

          I’m exactly in the same boat, been considering migrating to protonmail. Have moved everything else to alternatives except gmail.

        • Pohl@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Slowly working on hosting my own. Stuff like this is not fast for me since I am a hobbyist and not in tech professionally. But, I’m getting there.