Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Big Brother...aka Google

It's wierd...you ask 99% of Americans who use google "When did you first use google and what for?" or "How did you hear about Google for the very first time"...most people have NO IDEA. They did not advertise on TV, radio, print, or on the web...they just popped up and it became a billion dollar word of mouth driven enterprise. Now that they have such power, such a vast amount of cash on hand (quite literally), such influence over the world one question remains; can they be trusted?

Most people (including me for the moment) would say yes. But here's something to think about...(aside from EVERY other market and industry Google has ventured into, I am strictly talking mobile here)

You own an android phone and you're required to get a Google account...so much for the open model. Now this wouldn't be a big deal IF most if not all the phones main features are rendered practically useless unless you're signed into your google account. What worries me most is honestly the calendar feature that requires you to sign into Google, coupled with the fact that the GPS radio is ALWAYS on and linked to Google servers.

The simple fact is...if you own an android phone, you are Googles market research BITCH.

If you own an android phone Google knows what your job is, where you are at ALL times, what you're going to be doing in the future, what you plan on doing, how much you deviate from that plan and what type of information YOU consume along the way so that they can advertise to you and make money.

To that I say no thank you. I'd like to think for myself...

They're services and products are amazing, but they get a little trigger happy when it comes to the mobile market...which says to me that they're tying to get majorly involved in government. They WILL be the first major company to have a very big steak in world governments, just like religion does today. You watch Google will hold a role in the world bigger than the catholic church within 50 years.

Me being a media professional and designer by trade, am in a fortunate position to take advantage of such a company and most of us here are. And once they take over the developed world they might even do some good for some war torn countries. But I still don't know if I trust the idea of a crazy Russian with a passion for space travel who owns a marketing company that got VERY lucky, have such great influence over the entire planet. Governments come down HARD when they fall...businesses don't fall as hard but they fall much more often than governments do...if business gets wrapped up in government like religion is well...let's just say I am almost regretting not being a redneck and having an armory in my basement.

Comments?:mrgreen:

(by the way this is VERY short and sweet. If your attention span isn't this long you shouldn't be playing with phones.)

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Wow, you're going into the 21st century kicking and screaming aren't you?

But I'm with you on this one, that is to say, I'm never going to own an android phone either. Seeing as how I'm keeping my SERO for life and Sprint will never come around to having android phones on said plan, I too will never own an android phone.

But in reality, Microsoft could be doing the same thing.

Also, custom roms could always disable the GPS antenna and find a work-around to signing in all the time.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

http://riverdaughter.files.wordpress...02/tinfoil.jpg

conspiracy theorist crack me up...:mrgreen:

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/5.0.3521/1150; U; en) Presto/2.4.15)

I will give up my info as long as Google is making my life easier. All info in 1 spot. A phone that just works with all my info. I am 1 out of a ton of people. As long as I am not doing anything bad I feel like I don't have anything to worry about.

If people are so concern you can go back to address books and snail mail. I'll keep up with the latest and greatest.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I'm not going to sit here and say that you're not thinking in the right mind frame, I will say a few things though

You have the right to use which ever provider you wish and whatever device you wish to use. I really don't see a difference between using a Google phone, when they have your info or when you sign a contract with T-Mobile or someone who has an iPhone that has to register with Apple or someone who registers with Microsoft to use MarketPlace. You guy an operating system to run on your computer, who's to say that there's not some tracking bugs in that software you run on your computer or cell phone.
I think more people leak out more of their personal information by using MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Craig's List and YouTube. They provide pictures and/or short vids of the activities they do on a daily bases, tell stories about their life and etc.

There are more than just Google to worry about. Remember Google is an internet driven company and although they might not spend millions/billions of dollars advertising on conventional media like radio and tv, they do advertise throughout the internet. I first found Google in early 1999 when I was on AskJeeves.com and asked "What are other seach engines I can use" and Google was a hit... I tried it and like it because by that time AskJeeves became super commercialized... search for "how do I tune a car" and the first page of hits was GM, Ford and other dealers trying to sell cars... that's not what I was looking for!! HA HA

You say that GPS is always on our phones and pointing to Google servers... well remember GPS is a government thing so how do you know our government isn't Eagle Eying you? Nobody really knows does anyone truly have privacy or just a sense of privacy. Think of how many things you signed up for in your life and provided personal information, how do you know to trust those people? When I say you I'm not meaning you personally just to people in general.

If you use the internet you are market research too, heard of cookies? Anyway there could be a great debate about everything listed here and you have good questions to which I don't have the answer. Only you can decide whether or not you want to use a product and no amount of advertising can make your mind up for you, although a good advertisement will educate you enough to hopefully make an educated decission

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/5.0.3521/1150; U; en) Presto/2.4.15)

For some reason edit doesn't work on the mobile site...anyways wanted to add something else.

Things people use; Google search, mail, calendar, photos, maps, gps, checkout, soon google internet, google voice, goog 411, google text message, google phone.

I think more people should be worrying about keeping their password safe and making sure they change it.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I tend to agree with you about Google, although the simple fact that I am reading this forum suggests that I may willing to look past the fact that Google has too much information IMHO.

We don't really need to rely on conspiracy theories when we know that China hacked Google's servers. Security can be breached and a central repository, such as Google, is very Orwellian.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Pretty good point there, you know they're a powerful source when Microsoft and Apple agree to join forces to compete against Google... e.g. Bing on the iPhone.

What about Wikipedia, they don't advertise conventionally yet everyone knows about them... How about PPCGeeks, no TV adverts for them yet here we are, oh yeah found them from a Google search... You know you're a powerful company when TV/Movies say "I Googled it" ha ha

Don't forget they have a web browser that works on all the major platforms Windows/Mac/Linux
Google Chrome OS and Android some operating systems... the list could go on and on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products

To support the OPs thought, Google did had DoubleClick AdWords AdSense Double-Click which are all marketing tools

I ain't skeert!

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

i see you have an hd2, whats to stop microsoft from doing all the things you listed with their myphone program? i dunno about anyone else but if given the choice between the two, i would rather allow google to keep some of my info than to allow my paranoia of "big brother" prevent me from purchasing the best products out there.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

What..your still able to think JQuill..I'll have to report that to Google as a bug :/ jk

For me I started using google around 1997-1998..My favorite were Yahoo then Altavista and if I had nothing on bot hi'd try Lycos..thing is other then Yahoo most search was pretty terrible...horrible even...I know it well because I used to do search engine submissions at the time...what a pain...

I found google because I was searching around the web for something and noen of the engines could find what I need..it was something I really needed at the time so I Yahoo'd for other search engines hoping I'd find something like Altavista(which used multiple results and optimized) and I found Google which I used to search and it found it!

So I pretty much dumped all others other then Yahoo and Google..and made Google my primary search...then at one point Yahoo converted to using Google search(that made the news)..which at that point I dumped Yahoo since no point in searching same thing in 2 places..and stuck to using Google.

And again Android is opensource..you can edit Google out of it if you wanted to..but you gotta understand..if you have a calendar it has to sync somewhere..if you have a market place, money has to be processed somewhere. Thats why an account is needed...but as stated you can completely remove Google out of android..

and again yes I know google is out to conquer the world >.>

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

This is true...but google is becoming so big that whether you like it / realize it or not, your kids are going to be using google phones because they're gonna be the biggest game in town by then

Yeah well you just proved my point...you weren't advertised to by google initially, you found it on your own. Which is exactly how they wanted it.

The government ALREADY IS LOOKING IN ON ME. I know this for a fact, but they aren't literally looking in on me, they can if they want to, but they have no reason to unless I'm a terroist. Google has every reason to do so, because they use the data for market research not for public safety. Something I think should be bloody illegal.

This is true. But my point is that google is over-reaching by requiring your location and daily schedule.


Let this be said, I do trust Google, but they're trigger happy when it comes to market research which leads me to believe that have much broader ambitions as a company. And by the way most of what I said is indisputable fact not a theory, anything that is theory I clearly say "it would lead me to believe that...." and then I arrive at a conclusion. My theories and facts are clearly outlined in the above statement.


Let me just say that I do not use microsoft myphone for the same reasons I don't use Android.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Out to conquer the world? Well I don't think it was their intention, if you ask these guys they're probably humble that their company is as successful as it is now...

As soon as their Ultra High Speed internet is available for the masses, they will indeed rule a good portion of the world. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/...erimental.html

Prediction:
Steve Job dies, Apple crumbles and becomes near non-existent
Microsoft is absorbed into Google becomes GoogleSoft but still remains as a software only division of Google
Google gets government funding to build a quad channel fiber network throughout the US (think of the telephone company the government helped get a wired infrastructure throughout the US) ever heard of Universal Service Fee?

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Absolutely, this is now my favorite thread :)

I think both you and I are throwing out ideas that both have great merit, By the way, my daughter already has a HTC Hero, she's in high school and all her friends want one!! HA HA

You understand that word-of-mouth is the most POWERFUL advertisement period. Good/bad/ugly. The only way we can remain anonymous is to dis-connect ourselves from electronic devices use cash and work under the table for cash!

Remember we all have social security numbers!!

Anyway this is a great topic I especially like when you say why I MIGHT never buy and not say I will NEVER buy...

We have nothing to fear but fear it self (and Google) :mrgreen:

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

google is great! if you cant spell it corrects you. gives you choice tags to search in case you didnt find your answer, and my most favorite basic feature is image search. you can even categorize by size! big brother can track you or listen to you and find you no matter what if you give them a reason to seek you. but soooo many people use google they couldnt possibly keep track of that many people at one time. why would you be more interesting than anyone else? you are just a number and a statistic to them. you need to quit doin whatever is makin you so paranoid.

p.s. look out the window

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I just want to thank everybody here for keeping this discussion civil and smart. Good thread. Will read everybody's comments and post more later.

:protest::protest::protest::protest:
DON'T TREAD ON ME!

lol

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I also think it is great to see everyone discuss such a controversial topic while remaining civil and not taking anything personally.

BTW, Google FTW!

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

And a few interesting suggestions by the kings of search at Google...

http://rainfreak.com/images/other/google2.jpg

http://rainfreak.com/images/other/google1.jpg

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

LMFAO!! I love it Rain!

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Crazy...I was crazy once...

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Your point is well taken, however you fail to look at Googles broader ambitions as a company, coupled with how they behave when it comes to market research. You may think you are making your own decisions, until you realize that Google figured out x amount of people travel along such and such a route every day, then they sell that data to a company like clear channel, and clear channel puts up a billboard for lil wayn'es new album based on geographic data that it bought from Google. Then they sell that data to McDonalds and McDonalds puts a restaurant in your area. Before you know it you're a fat f*ck listening to sh*tty music...aka most of america.

If you are overweight, or listen to Lil' Wayne..you are banned from this thread.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

but even if thats the case its still a choice to listen to lil wayne and eat bigmacs every night. if you are weak minded enough to be coerced by such advertising than imo you deserve that fate. my office is 3.7 miles from our house and there are 6, yes 6, Mcdonalds' on my route. my kids have never once eaten fast food and i havent really listened to any music in 3 or 4 years! seriously i rarely listen to any music because personally it seems like a waste of time at this point in my life, i would rather listen to something empowering that will help me get to where i want to go and the overwhelming majority music doesnt fit the bill

you bring up a great point however and perhaps this may be moved to offtopic because its slowly straying away from android/google itself. is google really the problem or is it the society as a whole thats so weak that they can be shaped and molded like playdoh. if its the latter can you fault google for recognizing it and profiting from it?

great post, thanks given!

edit: also in regard to mcdonalds in particular, thats exactly how they determine where to open a location. they count how many people pass by a potential spot every hour of everyday. if enough people pass by, they build a mcdonalds. doesnt matter the demographics, who lives there, the avg income, etc. they know if x amount of people pass buy then they can have a profitable location

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Well, thats assuming I have no freewill and do whatever Google tells me to do. I have the willpower to stay away from Mcdonalds, and the taste to not listen to Lil Wayne. I don't change, and Google makes a few bucks. But I think it is important to point out that Google didn't make you eat at Mcdonalds, or listen to Lil Wayne, they simply made you aware that Mcdonalds is there and Lil Wayne has an album coming out. If you fall into that demographic, then great you know when his album is coming out, and/or you know where to get a bite to eat. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, so if you feel like staying away from Google, then go ahead. Most other companies will do the same thing.. for instance as soon as my friend said she was engaged on Facebook, she saw a lot of ads on the side for wedding dresses.

Also I have to do this before someone else does: In 2012 Google became self aware...

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

You guys bring up great points. And this may be pertaining to American style market research rather than google in particular, but my point is is that google is taking it to new levels.

And you both bring up good points about being strong minded. It's not US i'm worried about...it's the kids with crappy parents I worry about which seems to be more and more rampant these days who plop their kids in front of the TV and use media as a babysitter instead of telling their fat sh*t kid to get off the couch. COMPLACENCY IS THE ULTIMATE ENEMY! And I thank you two for recognizing the fact that most of us here are indeed strong minded.

___

Also bear this in mind people....you know how google has such a "clean" look....that's because they flood the internet with 90% of the ads you see on a daily basis...ALL of those pop up/sidebar/banner ads you see on every single website (including this one) that you hate so much are almost ALL Google ads.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I was not aware that google does market research..I think all they do is internal stuff..of course that does stop people for using google's tools for market research purposes.

Above someone mentioned about checking what you do..there was a online market research campaign not too long ago that gave out these devices and paid $100 for people to carry them for 2 weeks I think..the device then transmitted data about your daily activities.


They are not the ones that flood you with ads..usually a 3rd party integrates google feed into their rotation but to maximize on their returns they include other scripts such as popups and etc.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Uhmm...Market research for your own company is still market research...

And if you think they don't sell their data to other companies you are...sadly...sadly ignorant.

There was a market research campaign just like THAT ONE launched not too long ago called Android. Apparently you aren't aware of why Android gained market share so quickly...they cut wireless companies in on AD PROFITS FROM THE PHONES.



Exactly my point, and you just expanded on it a little bit...3rd party integrates a GOOGLE FEED...aka Google doesn't even have to do any work whatsoever to get their ads out their, the people that are paying them money for the ad space also do all the work to put them on the web.

PS - Google is currently worth almost $80 BILLION...

Over 90% of Googles revenue comes from...AD WORDS

If you don't know what Google Ad Words is you are banned from this thread.

Google literally gets paid to do nothing. And experiments with social behavior on a massive scale.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Every company does research for itself or outsources it.. and they do not sell the data.. everything they do release is available publicly.

Yes I am aware of that..I posted a thread on it a week or so back..it was a smart strategy on google's part and makes sense marketing wise..



The best kind of business is being the middle man..and yes EVERYTHING google does revolves around ADWORDS..this is why I said M$ will go out of business...their strategy is far too outdated and Google's strategy of focusing on 1 thing and everything you do contributes to that 1 thing is next generation marketing at hand.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Look at this and read
http://www.stenztv.com/hypnotizing.gif
You WILL buy Lil' Wayne on your way to McDonalds, you WILL buy a Big Mac while at McDonalds, after buying Lil Wayne you WILL return to McDonalds and buy another Big Mac
You WILL send money to Elephant007

I knew to put this here because I was smart enough to figure out that people read this thread! HA HA

No seriously, it's not Google's fault they have good market research skills. There's talk here like they're giving us nightly injections with the same syringe being brain washed by some subliminal messages they're throwing throughout the internet... I think people should be more worried about Nigerian Scams than Google :P

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

i think some of these conspiracy theories are all a figment of imagination. i dont see ads that specifically pertain to me ever! maybe google is having trouble getting to know me...lol
but advertisement is everywhere and i really dont think google has that much to do with it. i google myself all the time and it never says anything bout me. regardless...how could they use my statistics for anything that doesnt benefit me. if they put all of my interests in one easy to find place, or tell me where to buy something i was already going to get...that is helpful, no? google is like your personal assistant and friend, not an evil gold-digging seductress out to brainwash and take advantage of you. :)

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Yes..thats what Elmo wants you to believe...

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2791/elmothreat.jpg

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I think it's also important to note that its a price for Google offering these services for free. Theres no such thing as a free lunch. Google works hard to offer all of their services for free, they do deserve to be paid for their efforts. By using their services you are agreeing to pay them. Not in money, but in information. It's selfish to think that you deserve these services for free. And if you think Microsoft, or any other business isn't the same way, then you are mistaken. Maybe they're not doing it to the extent that Google is ( or maybe they are, I'm not doing the research to find out though). It costs more to use these free services because Google does it better. Its like paying more money for a similar plan on Verizon as opposed to Sprint. Sure Sprint is cheaper, but Verizon is a better network, so you pay a premium.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Always read the Terms Of Service, Privacy Policy, EULA or any other fine print to read before agreeing to terms etc...
That will tell you what want about the product you're going to use

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Always remember to press one, then 5, then 7, then 9, when you want to leave a message for a real person to get back to you after their lunch break. The message you're leaving them is about how because they no longer offer free roaming as a "new feature" they took it off your account 6 months ago without telling you and your automatic credit card deductions have had $30-$40 overage charges monthly without a notice or word from anybody.

^^ Why I left Sprint...but that's besides the point...The fine print doesn't tell you when somebody's going to get careless.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

I don't care who ever gives me back my tab, ctrl, and d-pad!! it's all about the hardware for me.. and the gps better be autonomous.

btw, any one ever notice that google can look an awefull lot like 6six6 when drunk

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Not sure I understand exactly how google knowing where you are and what your doing at all times is not thinking for yourself, its not like someone at google is changing your calender or scheduled events.

There is a built in price of information in most things you buy, they either want your address, income level, age ect. just for records to see who is buying the product. That's why many companies want your zip code when you buy something in one of their stores.

I don't know about anyone else, but my android phone also gives me the option to opt out of sharing gps info with google. Not saying I 100% think that that means they don't ever use any of the info my phone generates, but I doubt its just there to fool me.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

Woa... apparently I was wrong all along and I am sorry. Google knows way more than any of us thought. According to this web site, Google knows all of the following (and a hell of a lot more):

• What Willis is talking about
• How to go back once you've gone black
• When to pull out
• The last digit of Pi
• What will happen in 2012
• More than Bing
• The Crabby Patty secret formula
• Never to drop the soap
• There's nothing wrong with a little bump and grind

Damn... they DO know everything...

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

bwhahahahahshaha. i seriously almost dropped my phone reading that. "the crabby patty formula" classic post, thank you rainfreak!!

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

You people seem to forget that I work in advertising and marketing in a creative and management capacity...and the more ignorant a customer and the more complacent they are the easier it is to find out whether they're actually paying attention to what's going on around them. (sounds to me like most people here are the type of people to get hit by a car because they walk into oncoming traffic while wearing their ipod)


If they're not paying attention then it's easier to sell things to them because 90% of the information we take in is through out sub-concious.

If you guys want to keep ignoring the truth, and as a result of ignoring the truth, THINKING that you're thinking for yourself until you realize 90% of the movies you watch and 90% of the music you listen to are all put out by the top 5 media companies in the world.

5 companies control ALL the worlds media...News Corporation, Disney, Viacomm, General Electric, and AOL Time Warner...those 5 companies own almost every single record label, radio station, television station, and piece terestrial advertising space on planet earth. If you think you've been thinking for yourself for most of your life...if you listen to or watch any media that these 5 companies put out...and lets be honest, none of you have any idea what other companies these conglomorates own because you don't seem to care that you've been brainwashed since age 6 without realizing it.


And the fact that you all thanked somebody 3 times for trying to tell me that I'm a conspiracy theorist...but he did so by posting a picture of a marketing tool (the adult swim charachters) that was produced by a major media company for viral purposes JUST LIKE THIS...so every time something viral happens YOU ALL WILL use that image and everyone goes "COOL, ADULT SWIM I WATCH THAT HE'S FUNNY, NOW WHERES MY $300 WORTH OF ADULT SWIM MERCHANDISE AND MY DVD SET THAT I CAN WATCH CAUSE I JUST SAW A PICTURE OF IT ONLINE, MAYBE I'LL WATCH THE NEW EPISODE TONIGHT SO SOME EXECUTIVE AT NEWS CORPS STOCK WILL GO UP"

...if you people want an education in marketing, then post something real, don't just post random insults because you literally have nothing valid to say.



It's obvious none of you have any idea what you're talking about when it comes to marketing so this will be my last post in this now joke of a thread.

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

LMAO!!!!!!! laugh of the week!!!! that was priceless....

Re: Why I might never buy an Android phone...(short and sweet, comments welcome)
 

so based on what you jus said google/android isnt the problem its people that are the problem. and like i stated before can you fault google for recognizing these trends and profiting from them. i sure cant.

oh btw i own a marketing firm ;)