Digital freedom from Google and Apple 8/14/13

“I think it’s unwise to use many proprietary, hard-to-replace services in such important roles, and I think it’s downright foolish to tie that much of your data and functionality into proprietary services run by one company in one account that sometimes gets disabled permanently with no warning, no recourse, and no support.” – Marco Arment

I’m trying my best to avoid getting locked into Apple or Google’s platform. I use GMail, but only through a forwarded address. I use iTunes Match, but I keep my own DRM free music backups. My documents and photos are hosted on Dropbox and Flickr. I refuse to start buying movies on iTunes, Google Play, or Amazon because they can’t be used across platforms¹.

While it would be easier to fully embrace Google or Apple services, I want the freedom to use different platforms now and in the future. Like Marco Arment, I don’t trust any single company enough to give them full control of my digital life.