A Msg To Those Who Support Android But Not Google

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SwordOfWar

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Well, here is what I think about all of this...

First, I do believe Google is in control of a vast amount of information regarding our daily activities and communications.

I see all these free services but they must be funded somehow. Anyone notice the recent google ads on the navigation app? They track what places im going to, or where im at, and display relevant advertisements based on my habits. This method is not new in the advertising industry, but it has never been so deep as to analyze my emails, traveling destinations and such.

Soon Google will be able to estimate when I'm about to fart and recommend gas pills or something.

Think about it, Google can push advertisements out into people's lives like no other company in existence. They are on every website you go to, and now they are on our phones, and who knows what other devices. That is surely an attractive trait and I bet that is a good bit of their income.

About the Nexus One and the new phone structure... We shouldn't be complaining about that. Do you want to continue being locked down to a specific carrier when you want a certain phone? I don't. This is something fairly new in North America. It is not easy to get a phone from one carrier to work on another, and in the case with Verizon basically impossible since most carriers use GSM phones and we use CDMA phones. Carriers are not use to another company selling the phones, and letting the user choose the network to activate it on, and users as well as carriers are going to get confused especially with support.

Even if this whole process is a total joke (does not work out well, confusing everyone) I still want it to continue and mature. Hopefully in the next few years we won't even need to buy or hack phones just to get them unlocked. We will just be able to use our phones with whatever service we want, and thats how it should have been from the start. I appreciate the fact that Google is offering us a better experience and opening the door for more freedom.

Have you guys ever used a non smartphone on the Verizon network? Don't you hate how Verizon puts their own software on the phone, and in the process remove nearly all the features the device was developed with (original software on the phone before Verizon put their own software on it). Anyone will tell you that its hard as hell to do any type of software mods on those phones. They are locked down so tight, and god forbid you notice something wrong and want to suggest it to Verizon. All they will do is tell you they appreciate your suggestion, and will think about it for the future. You have about a .05% chance of seeing an update with the features you want.

But hey, with my Droid I can email a developer and get a response usually within minutes or hours, and they will actually add my suggestions and make my phone experience more enjoyable.

I've never felt so much freedom with any past Verizon phone. The Android OS has opened the door for all the neat customizations we find here on this forum. And we have Google to thank for pushing this software into all these carriers. Only a big company like Google could have pulled something like this off.

The operating system is open source. This makes it so much easier for developers to make those custom ROMs you all are waiting for. Actually, I would go as far as to say it wouldn't be possible to make good quality custom ROMs without the source from the original/default ROM.

This phone does so much that my least used feature is probably making calls on the thing. I forget its a phone sometimes.

So, at the expense of letting Google collect personal information, we get phone software that is open source and comes with awesome features like the free google voice (which i use mostly for free visual voicemail, which is better than the paid visual voicemail by verizon, lol!)

I mean, some services on google is provided free and its better than some features you PAY FOR by Verizon. That really puts Verizon to shame. I mean I get free GPS. I think Google Navigation needs improvement, but its good enough to use (and I do use it frequently) so thats not a big deal. I rather use google navigation for free than pay for vz navigator.

When I see Android OS, I don't see a phone operating system. I see a portable device that connects me to all google's services (google voice, google search, soon we will have google earth....)...

Its a way to put Google in your pocket.

With that said, I think Google is a better company than most of the other companies out there in the world. Google actually makes my life easier, and they don't nickle-and-dime me for every tiny thing either.
 
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Well said swordofwar. I know many companies have personal information about us, but Google actually uses the personal information to attempt to deliver us ads that may be relevant to us. They are just trying to make everyone's life better..... for FREE. How anyone can hate a company for that baffles me.
 

au1776

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Well said swordofwar. I know many companies have personal information about us, but Google actually uses the personal information to attempt to deliver us ads that may be relevant to us. They are just trying to make everyone's life better..... for FREE. How anyone can hate a company for that baffles me.

Well, that is based on the assumption that Google is only trying to efficiently deliver ads and make a profit. If you're truly skeptical of Google's motives (I'm playing devil's advocate here) I can understand why you would be concerned.

To continue the conspiracy, say you're a big liberal and you know that Google staunchly supports the American right (probably the other way around in reality). Google gives you indications that they have an agenda other than simply making a profit, and they also have access to a lot of information about you (some of it possibly incriminating). Now, if you're narcissistic enough to believe that they'd pick you out, or if you think they're keeping records on everyone, wouldn't that be cause for concern?

For the record, I know nothing about Google practices and am happy with my Droid (I also use Chrome, for added legitimacy points). But, I don't think some hesitancy is totally ridiculous when dealing with any entity that has access to your life but may have an agenda antithetical to yours.
 
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I would be concerned if there were any indication of that being the case, but then I also think of the hundreds of millions of google users, and the odds of me being picked isn't very likely.
 
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