What Google has taught us over 20 years of its existence

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Six main lessons we had to learn.

Google is 20 years old today, and it's a respectable age. Many of us have been using the search giant for as long as we can remember. But the company's relationship with users of its products hasn't always been smooth. This is what they taught us.

1. Do not get attached to services

Because Google can easily shut them down. Remember the great Google Reader, which made it easy to read news feeds, filter and sort them as you liked, and also had a nice clean interface? The company has shut down Reader.

You may be using the Inbox service, which provides convenient mobile apps and a web interface to access your Gmail. A bunch of chips that migrated to Gmail with the latest updates first appeared in Inbox. Now Google is shutting it down.

This is the disadvantage of web services compared to desktop applications. The programs you have installed will work even if they have not been updated for a dozen years, but web services are entirely dependent on the will of the developers. If you are used to some kind of service, think over ways of escape: create backups and look for alternatives in advance.

2. Use the correct browser

And the only correct browser is, of course, Google Chrome. Yes, he has enough flaws. Yes, he is very gluttonous and puts the battery down. Its interface is not flexible. In addition, he, like a true brainchild of Google, diligently leaks all information about you to the search giant.

But now Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, and any web developer, when creating a website, primarily focuses on it.

You've probably noticed that many sites are displayed most correctly in the browser from Google (and in its clones using the same engine). And the services of Google itself are completely sharpened specifically for Chrome. For example, if you open Google Docs in Firefox or Safari, even the copy-and-paste context menu will not work correctly.

So, ordinary users have no choice but to continue using Chrome. However, you can moderate his appetite for system resources and pump functionality with extensions.

3. Use web services instead of applications

Once upon a time, Google developed software for personal computers. The company had a pretty interesting Google Desktop project for Windows, macOS and Linux. It allowed you to search for information among the files on your hard drive. There was also Picasa Desktop, a handy photo organizer, and Google Talk, a desktop messenger.

But the company has ditched all desktop applications other than the browser. It assumes that users can do everything they need online through web applications. Why do you need an email client if you have Gmail, or an office suite if you have Google Docs, or Skype if you have Hangouts? It all works right in the browser (and best of all in Chrome).

You don't need to install or buy anything - just have a Google account.

The company taught us that everything can be done in the browser. Modern web services can easily replace desktop applications. It's no coincidence that Google's own system, Chrome OS, has nothing but a browser.

4. Do not post too much on the Web

What gets on the Internet stays there forever (or at least for quite a long time) thanks to Google's cache.

Can't open a page that was recently available? Click on the small arrow just below the search term and open its saved copy. Of course, the site may display slightly incorrectly, but the information will remain on it.

When posting something, remember that it may surface several years later, even if you have already deleted all the compromising information.

5. Use a clean version of Android

The advantages of a pure Android version over skins like TouchWiz or MIUI are undeniable. It is faster, more stable, updated more often. Here are just the purest and "real" Android OS is installed exclusively on Pixel smartphones. Google personally monitors their updates and stability of work, they do not put anything superfluous on them, and it is their owners who are the first to try new features of the mobile OS.

6. Safely store your data

According to Google, your data does not belong to you. If a company decides to close one of its services and you do not have time to get your data out of there, then it will disappear.

If you have apps on your phone that Google doesn't want, they may well be uninstalled without your consent. For example, when updating smartphones to Android Lolipop, users lost applications that were not installed from Google Play. Google knows better what should be stored on your smartphones.

This means one thing: you need to make backups. Make copies of your data stored in the cloud, and also make sure you can download the apps you want from third-party sources, even if they disappear from Google Play.