Goodbye Google, Hello MicroSoft
I used to be a huge Google fan… but not lately.
Since 2021, they just started taking away features and making users pay. I’ll give you three examples.
- Google Photos: Google used to offer unlimited photo storage on Google Photo, but they took that away unlimited storage in 2021 (reducing it to 15GB only). You can pay for additional storage.
- Google Sites: They used to offer free Google Sites, and that went away in 2021. There’s no payment option, they just don’t want you to continue to use their Classic Sites.
- Google Domain: Domain email and users were free, but since 2022, Google decided to charge domain owners, per user. Meaning if you have a team of five users, it’s going to cost you $50 a month (for basic access).
The trend here is that Google used to have free products, but after you heavily invest in their services… they pull the rug from under you and now that same service will cost you money. For my email use, I simply cannot leave… so I am forced to pay.
Anyway, that’s just three examples, there are probably much more of this Google bait-and-switch examples.
The latest Google straw that broke the camel’s back, is that Google decided to “pool storage” for their Google Workspace. Suddenly, my personal storage of 100GB that I have been paying Google for, it suddenly went to 99% at full capacity overnight! I was already paying for 100GB, but this apparently did not count towards my “pooled storage” with other users in my Google domain.
So, you know what? I cancelled my Google One storage subscription, and I’m switching over to MicroSoft 365 Basic plan. MicroSoft’s pricing is decent, at $20 a year. The basic price includes 100 GB of cloud storage, an ad-free email & calendar experience, and ongoing customer support (something that Google does not offer).
In the next week, I will stop using Google products (at least that ones that uses cloud storage) and moving them over to One Drive. I’ll be uninstalling Google Photos from my iPhone, iPad, laptop, etc.
So, this is goodbye Google.
PS, MicroSoft offers a similar plan to Google’s Workspace, but charges less and gives users 1TB storage (per user). So, If I pay for five users, I could get 5TB for $30 a month. That’s such a better deal than Google… I just wish there was a way for me to take my 10-year-old email to MicroSoft, and leave Google for good. If I started a new business right now, I know I would go with MicroSoft.
Hang in there… I will put together the fanzines in PDF format when I have the time (maybe this weekend). I had to remove all my files off Google Drive.
Hi
I’ve just discovered your page & I was wondering if you could help? No worries if not, it never hurts to ask. I noticed that many years ago you shared scans of some Sleeper fan zines – issues 1 to 3 of The IT Zine plus GORGEOUS AND FULLY EQUIPPED December 1984 and a copy from 1985. – https://weheartmusic.typepad.com/blog/louise-wener/ – I lost my copies many years ago & was hoping maybe you would be able to send me copies of what you have scanned as downloads, for my collection?
No worries if you are unable to help, I just thought it was worth asking.
Thanks for your time in reading this.
All the best
Steve Lodge