I was logging into my Trello account today and this sign in screen really summed up my “tech troubles” lately. I’d LIKE to choose just one of these three and stick with it – however the way things work, it seems I need to use (and pay for!) all three. How many products are you using and paying for from these tech giants?
In terms of simple ease of use, and mostly being “free” Google is often my first personal choice. Whether it’s Docs, Sheets or Slides, I love the simplicity offered in capturing information and creating documents that are easy to share with others and collaborate. In general, I’ve found things just “work”. The “free” part often means you’re paying with your data, but in general I’m ok with this. I’ve also paid a reasonable amount each year for an upgraded 200GB of storage. I am very disappointed that this week though Google Photos will no longer be free from June 2021 (for high quality photos). I also am a regular user of other Google services such as Maps, and have a Google home speaker.
Microsoft
I hate Microsoft products with a passion – but am forced to use them via my work. Yes, they are/were a market leader, and yes, there are some very handy tools and functions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Teams and more. However the amount of productivity I have lost literally almost tearing my hair out over issues and things that are just not logical to me leaves me a very unhappy user. I keep trying though, but if it were up to me, I’d never use them again….but many companies, and the world in general seems to have other ideas. I have a OneDrive paid for by my work. I was given a Surface Pro but hated it and gave it back after trying it for a couple of months.
Apple
It’s a love/hate relationship I have with Apple. I’m typing this on my iMac, with my iPad, iPhone and MacBook Air next to me. Once you go down the Apple Road, it’s hard to ever leave. I do think they are overpriced and I have some small frustrations – but in general I do like their hardware – but not their software. I’ve rarely used Keynote, and don’t even remember what their other office-type tools are. I have an iCloud account I pay for with 200GB but this is filling up – partly as I allow my children to sync with it….and trying to teach them that online space costs money and to back up/delete photos they don’t need
Other options?
I have a Dropbox 2TB account where I sync and back up my files and photos, and have considered using Amazon photos. I’m also trying to get into the habit of backing up my large video files on an external hard drive (plus a back up one as well), and deleting out files I don’t need.
Personally I don’t mind paying for tech and understand that running these companies and data storage doesn’t come cheap – but what I resent is that I seem to end up still needing to use/pay for several very similar services.
I listened to Prince Constantijn at a conference recently (brother of King Willem-Alexander here in the Netherlands). In his role at Techleap.nl he is advocating that Europe also build some tech giants so we are less reliant on these US companies. I’m curious to see what will happen in the coming years. Your thoughts?
Renee
Zestee 