DeGoogled!

What I did during the holidays...an anecdote

Unlike many people, I don’t celebrate New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. I don’t stay up to midnight. Last night, I was in bed around 9:15.

Moreover, I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but I inventory what I’ve done in the preceding year and contemplate what I might accomplish in the new one. For 2024, I decided it was time to ditch pitching small, indie publishers and self-publish my novel. Thanks to the advice of my dear friend, author Joan Livingston, who edited my manuscript, I published the book. And thanks to her encouragement and help preparing the text and cover layouts, I also published my collection of selected short stories (see below).

As 2024 wound down, I began house cleaning my folders and files. Call it triage. It’s amazing how many versions and duplicate files one accumulates in the course of a year. I also decided to simplify and consolidate my computer and software use. Who needs three laptops with three different operating systems?

Over the years, I’ve used several versions of Microsoft and Apple operating systems, as well as different Linux distributions. I ditched MS and MacOS long ago when I switched to Linux.

Then along came ChromeOS, when I bought a small, inexpensive Chromebook and entered Google World the last time I traveled to Germany in 2017. At the time, combining ChromeOS, Android, and Google Drive, in which everything was connected and linked, seemed logical as well as convenient. I used Google Docs to write most of what I’ve written since that trip abroad, including my novel, The Writer of Unwritten Books, the stories in my collection, The Prisoner and Other Stories, and many poems and haiku.

The venture with Google has not been without challenges. I’ve had reservations for some time about its algorithms and sharing user data with its advertisers and others, but the Mighty Goog (as a fellow Linus aficionado once called it) also seems to be pushing AI more aggressively. That pushed me over the edge. In addition, beginning around Thanksgiving, my wife and I were bombarded with intrusive ads for diverse Google products. I decided I had enough and would try to rid as much Google as I could from my day-to-day life. Coincidently, I also noticed several articles about ways to DeGoogle.

Masochist that I am, I used the time between the holidays to DeGoogle as much of my life as possible. The first thing I did was set up a new email account with a reliable, secure email and client provider based in Berlin over another more expensive one in Switzerland. Once I had the new email service, I needed to change my email address in some three dozen websites, which was tedious, but not difficult. If I need to upgrade to accommodate more storage space, so be it. In addition, I removed as many unnecessary apps from my phone and the Chromebook as I could. So far, I don’t miss them.

When I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro earlier this year, it was to expedite preparing my books for press. I now use it for primarily for email or surfing the web if I’m not writing or engrossed in a book. Moreover, I’ve removed the Apple Store apps I don’t use or like, when possible, and have installed free open source apps instead. Tip: You might consider replacing your Google with an alternative search engine with DuckDuckGo or Startpage.

Likewise, I also chose free alternative cloud storage to Google Drive. The storage came with 20 GB storage, but after installing the app to the Mac and phone, I received 10 more GB, which more than suffices to store and backup my data files and folders online. Being old school, I also have an external backup drive. When you’ve lost important files more than once, you can’t be too careful.

Despite the many changes, I’ve retained my primary Google email address for my Android phone and Chromebook, when I need it. My wife also has an Android phone and occasionally uses the Chromebook, otherwise, I would have recycled the Chromebook. But she prefers not use the Lenovo ThinkPad, which runs the Debian Linux distribution, so the Chromebook stays.

Meanwhile, I’m still stuck with three laptops running three different operating systems, when I need just one. But at least, I’ve degoogled as much possible in the interim.

How do I feel now? Much better, thank ou.

If you’re interested in degoogling your life, here are three links with helpful information and tips: https://blog.internxt.com/degoogle-your-life/ , https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/privacyhub/how-to-degoogle/ , https://www.mail.com/blog/posts/how-to-degoogle/261/