Boycott Google Chromebook

Let the record reflect that Google Chromebooks fucking suck monkey balls.  While there are some convenient things about them (being able to switch to a new laptop and just magically have all your saved files available), that comes with a cost and the bad far outweighs the good.

Let's start with the fact that you literally can't delete saved files.  Well, you CAN but it takes forever and half the time you get an error message like this: 

Results when I try to delete literally any file from Chromebook.

This becomes especially problematic when you run out of storage space & your laptop starts lagging/glitching.  At that point, you're given two options:  delete the files (can't) or buy more memory (won't).  Yeah, I already bought the computer so you can get all the way bent if you think I'm spending more to store said files on the computer I already own.  I'm no rocket surgeon, but I strongly suspect the reason they make it so hard to delete files is so you will buy more space.  Call me a conspiracy theorist if you please.  

Then there's the "app" issue.  Why would a laptop need to download an app?  Isn't that a phone thing?  No.  Turns out it's not exclusively a phone thing.  Yet all the Android apps are developed for (wait for it) an ANDROID PHONE, which Chromebook is not.  This means they don't work properly on Chromebooks, or if they do, the display is so funked up it's as good as useless.  Apps are notoriously less secure than websites, and the fact that Chromebook requires you to download them is just another opportunity to upsell you shit.  Because so many apps are not free.  Or the free version has limited features.  Or the free version sucks.  Or tries to sell you MORE shit in the form of popup ads.  You get the picture.

Play Store's results when searching "Youtube app"

Speaking of apps, I recently went to reinstall the Youtube app from the Google Play Store only to find it's notably absent.  Instead, they offer you an assortment of other video player apps that are NOT Youtube.  Why reinstall Youtube, you ask?  Because every time I click a new video, I get this error message after approximately 1 minute of watching:

So frustrating.

So YT is useless on this contraption & there's no option to do a fresh install.  Coincidentally (or not), YT is owned by Google so again, the question of whether this is by design comes into play.  It's bad enough YT made it impossible to block ads and tries to get you to buy the paid versions (YT Premium, YT Premium Lite, YT Music, etc,) but this is a step too far.

THEN there's the privacy issue.  This one is huge so stay w/ me.  When you search Google regarding the privacy level of Google Drive, it says "Yes, Google Drive is private, photos are set to private by default, etc."  But when you ask Google whether Google employees can access/view your Drive files, you get a very different answer:  (Try searching "Is Google Drive private?" followed by "Is Google Drive private from Google employees" to see for yourself).

"Private to you?"  Nice word trickery.

Yeah, so not private at all.  And what are the "specific circumstances" that allow them to access your files?  What's to stop them from just doing it because they fucking FEEL like it?  After watching a special on the epidemic of computer repairmen rifling through private saved files on personal devices, I no longer have ANY faith that these powerful creeps aren't doing the same thing at Google.  The bad thing is you'd never know & have no way to prove it if they were.  Saved files (photos, documents, videos & all the rest) have always been private by default in that they were saved to the actual device and not some poorly defined "cloud".  As something of a digital hoarder, my device is full of said files, some of which are highly intimate/private.  The thought that some twisted troon techie is perusing my saved files with his girldick in one hand and a Redbull in the other makes my stomach turn.  

And then there are these issues.  It seems Google's lack of privacy & informed consent is an ongoing, worsening situation. 

Gemini AI scans your gmails

Google Search deterioration

Google charges your bank account for using auto fill for debit/credit cards


That's right:  They literally charge your bank account for using autofill to save your CC/debit card info in Chrome.  And you're never informed that this will happen.  I found this out after receiving repeated fraud alerts from my bank concerning $1 monthly charges from Google Play, which I don't (knowingly) use.  In my opinion this is worse than the Google Incognito thing that they're currently facing a class action lawsuit for due to the lack of informed consent.  If another class action pops off, let's just say I'll be first to sign on.  If a greedy ass bank flags it as fraudulent, that pretty much means it is.


Conclusion

Yes, Chromebooks are affordable.  But there are better options in the same price range.  Damn near any Windows laptop is gonna be more secure, have more storage space & just be a better option all around.  That's because Windows saves files to your actual device and doesn't try to upsell you on storage space.  Yes, Chromebooks aren't susceptible to viruses like other PCs, but the privacy issue is so much worse than any spyware virus you could ever encounter that it cancels out the good.  The overall performance, durability & function of Chromebooks is shit-tier.  Like really, really bad. 

I've taken to uploading my Google Drive files to sites like Proton Drive that offer free encrypted storage.  Then I just mass delete the whole folder from my Chromebook to free up space.  This eliminates the problem of having to manually delete individual files (which you really can't do on Chromebooks) while securing your files via encryption in a way that Google employees CAN'T access.  Nordlocker and MEGA are other viable options for avoiding the Google storage sales pitch while freeing up memory.  Just never forget your login info or you lose all your files.

These are all Google-owned products/services.

When you consider all the apps/sites owned by Google, it all becomes a little too Big Brother/1984.  This is why monopolies are bad.  Where is the FTC to break up this sham?  When the entire internet crashed recently, it was because Amazon's servers weren't functioning.  One company's glitch rendered 1/3rd of the ENTIRE INTERNET unreachable.  If that doesn't scare/enrage you, it should.  We're talking a third of the entire planet's communication, information & connection capabilities.  Sites like Doxy, ehrs (electronic health records) & Salesforce that medical professionals & social workers use for their jobs--gone.  Google's ownership of so many different products, services & sites is setting them up to be  as powerful as Amazon.  The very site I'm typing this on?  Owned by Google.  The device I'm sending it from?  Google product.  The Android phone you're likely reading it on?  Google. 

*Quietly removed from logo & code of conduct as Google enshittifies.*

In its early days, Google's motto was "Don't Be Evil."  It was scrawled across whiteboards throughout the company and was incorporated into the corporate logo. Then they quietly dropped it from both the logo (2015) & the company's actual code of conduct (2018).   

Again, at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I don't think this was some accident or oversight.  Google has become so fucking evil that using that motto would be laughable & potentially open them up to false advertising penalties if only our regulators weren't owned by corporate donors.  Companies will be exactly as evil as you let them be, hence the need for agencies like the FDA, FTC & EPA.  Except the fact that lobbying and big donor money is allowed in politics means these failsafe agencies work for the very companies they're paid to regulate.  It's a fox guarding the henhouse situation.

But the very idiots being violated 10 ways from Sunday by crony capitalism are the first to rush to its defense in an argument because "socialism bad".  The brainwashing runs deep.  

TL;DR - Don't buy a Chromebook unless you want rando techies having access to your most private saved files.  Or you want a glitchy laptop that doesn't let you delete files & tries to sell you more storage space.  (Hopefully this doesn't get hidden behind a censorship wall since Google owns Blogger!)