RE: https://mastodon.social/@Tutanota/115586481225235662

tutanota@mastodon.social

FYI: by turning off "Smart features" Google also turns off spell check and the promotions & social tabs.

So to "enjoy" all feature in Google, you must give consent to AI tracking. That's privacy blackmail and should be illegal.

anderslund@expressional.social

@Tutanota Luckily, it is quite easy to live without google. Like living without facebook, it even leads to less stress and unhappiness

amici@fribygda.no

@anderslund @Tutanota

I agree with you except for Google Maps and YouTube.

While other map services exist, they are not nearly as complete with information as Maps typically is, and same goes for YouTube and videos.

However, you usually don't _need_ all the conveniences of Maps they just make things easier (like opening hours and nearby shop locations), and there are several ways to watch YT vids without an account (i.e. NewPipe, Invidious site, FreeTube on Linux)

anderslund@expressional.social

@amici @Tutanota There is functionality for having all the information in openstreetmap, like opening hours ect. And it gets more and more complete. The more people use it, the better it will become, and maybe even some organisations will sponsor or contribute. There is a very great value in the open, democratic project compared to a the proprietary, capitalistic one.

There are also videos on the fediverse. But we have been lured into accepting the monopolies abuse in return for superficial convenience.

Be a part of change

amici@fribygda.no

@anderslund @Tutanota

You're talking to someone who has been (and will continue in the future) to make content for PeerTube (educational vids). Yet the brutal fact is that the fediverse is not even a fraction of the way to being competitive with YouTube's content.

Not only does YT have a huge backlog of accumulated content, but they have a large number of very talented creators who continue to add content, and a lot of people with unique knowledge and capabilities who only publish to YT.

amici@fribygda.no

@anderslund @Tutanota

There is simply no way to move, unless you happen to not care about interesting videos in which case you don't have to watch either. Even the Russians know this, and they have blocked lots of western websites - but YT they have kept.

We can only encourage new creators to establish themselves with PeerTube, and for institutions to use PeerTube for hosting, but it's going to take incredibly long before anyone can simply ditch YT entirely.

amici@fribygda.no

@anderslund @Tutanota

I'm also actively engaged in looping fun animal videos on Loops, the federated TikTok alternative for those who don't know. Yet guess where I get my videos? All of them shamelessly stolen from YT shorts (usually by another account which stole it from a different YT account, or from Facebook, or similar)

anderslund@expressional.social

@amici @Tutanota I know I know ... It is NOT going to be easy, and we are probably dreamers. I view video from youtube right now, a channel which has been driving the income of a variable group of users for years.

The problem with youtube, and google of course, is the business model, basically abusing everybody's privacy. And monopolism.

franceskamann@freeradical.zone

@anderslund @amici @Tutanota

Google maps blackmails local businesses in my area. When a small business relocates, Google maps wants $90 a month to give people using maps the updated address. There are places I go that google (& apple) maps gives a different location each time. I spoke with a small business this happens at, who told me about the fees. They refused to pay & sometimes get calls from confused/lost patrons.