Escaping the tech oligarchy
A plan - draft 1
Follow up to my last post.
This is going to take some time unfortunately to pull myself out of the tech oligarchy world.
I cannot stress enough that this is a draft. I have a lot of things to try and test.
Amazon, musk companies, Facebook, and particularly Google are deeply embedded in my life, and I have no doubt many others are in the same boat.
Let's take these 1 by 1
Facebook
This one's probably the easiest. Already deleted Facebook, Instagram and threads accounts. I can't find any other companies I used that are owned by them. Still may have to visit their site occasionally for info but at least I'm not a “user” anymore
Amazon
Cancel prime. I only buy things from them. Kindle is primarily a library app for me. Probably okay there but the library also has an app and I'll try to use that instead.
Musk
I don't own a Tesla and don’t want to own a Tesla because I want to live. I deleted my x account a few months ago. I am still affiliated with the US government which he currently owns but not much I can do on that one.
I didn't put OpenAI on my original list but I'm done with them too. Deleted the app.
Google - this is the hard one.
Stop using chrome. Switched to duckduckgo browser. Check.
Stop using Google search. Moved to duckduckgo as default search.
Gmail - This one hurts. I had a Gmail beta account in the early 2000s. I'm going to try out protonmail. It's open source and based in Switzerland.
YouTube - not sure what to do here but I don't subscribe to YouTube TV. Most of this content isn't elsewhere.
Android phone - not sure what to do here. Might just be stuck for now.
Chromebook - guess I'm getting a new laptop?
Waze and Google maps - no idea here. I need to do some research.
I don't use Fitbit or anything like that
A good goal for now is just LESS.
Others in magnificent 7
Nvidia
I'm not getting wrapped around the axle about this one
Apple
I use an iPhone for work. Definitely not doing more than I have to on it for my job.
Microsoft
I use this for work and I have an old Xbox. If I get a new gaming system, it will be Sony
I am definitely open to ideas here and this will be amended as I learn more.