Google Services - Resist or Use?

It is true that Google does offer a compelling set of services. GCal which now has a task list app (I'm not sure if this is mature enough yet, but still it's there which is what matter). Your contacts will now even sync via SyncML. GMail has IMAP, and don't forget Google Docs (which I personally haven't used yet, but it's been mentioned that some editorial at CNET UK is performed on GDocs). With the advent of Android, all these features, including maps, can be brought together in a handset, not forgetting that they're all cloud apps which means you have a platform independent set of core applications. And it's all for the cost of zero.

So what's the catch? What is the catch indeed! All that data is there to be mined at Google's whim for starters. Then consider dependence, the more Google services you depend on, all the more screwed you'll be on that fateful day when Google has a rare glitch, and so you're cut off from all your data, just as you're going to the most important meeting of your life.

Anecdotes, discussion and alternative services are welcomed, I'll add my own in replies.

I only use Google Search and Google Maps frequently. I have a Google Mail account that is used as a second e-mail. Does YouTube count? They are technically Google. I use that pretty frequently.

Interesting point, I have a Google (Mail et al) account and a Youtube account because I joined Youtube before the merger. Although, I've never been offered a way of merging or linking accounts (like Yahoo did when Flickr was bought).

Clicky

yeah, it asked me if i wanted to merge them when i last signed in to YouTube.

I use gmail as my primary email adress, with live and yahoo accounts as secondary (yahoo is for all my spam)

I was also amazed to find my AOL account is STILL active - we haven't been on AOL for 3 years now

Which other Google services is everyone else using?

I have a GMail account, but I don't use it yet, but I do use Google Reader for RSS.

Mail, Calendar, Map, Translator, Docs, YouTube, Picasa. I have Chrome installed too but still using Firefox as default - I also use Flickr as my main photo sharing "thing", Picasa is more like a photo viewer anyway.

I am using pretty much all of their services obviously because owning an Android phone but was anyway. Still prefer Flickr for photos although haven't really explored what Picassa can do.

I'm happy with the services and so far had no problems. Google Docs is handy for sharing simple docs but don't really use it much. Use Office all day at work, last thing I wanna see at home is a spreadsheet.

I love the way my phone syncs with Gmail, yes there may be a day when their services go down for a while, but there is more chance of me breaking/losing my phone and needing to re-sync

i have a g1 (best phone i have ever owned) but sadly it doesnt use google docs (a smart phone that cant by default read pdf files!) i use gmail all the time and now all my email apears on my phone with the speed of a text message. im a firm google follower, all praise the mighty google *looks around for lightning clouds*

Have you upgraded the firmware to 1.5 Cupcake yet? Just asking because I can read pdf's etc on the Magic

Can you edit GDocs on the Magic?

don't see why not - GDocs is web-based so as long as you have a browser. I daresay it's better supported on Android's webkit browser, wouldn't like to try it on my phone as I'd just get the mobile version for WAP phones or something

im on tmobiles latest firmware (which i have been assured by the andriod community is cupcake) i did debate installing a custom os on it but it seems thats thawt with problems (from force closes to the heat tracks melting lol) havent been able to open pdf files yet which is annoying, i go to dnd every week (yeah im a geek so sue me) and as well as having the stack of books i have them in pdf format, would be so nice to leave the books at home

Is there no PDF reader in the Android app store?

Yes, I've just checked and there are loads of them, some cost but a lot of free ones too.

Will check GDocs tomorrow or something

There you go Grim - you can download a PDF reader for your G1!

Red - Look forwards to hearing about what you can do with GDocs.

It's probably worth mentioning that today i've switched my browser to Google Chrome.

I've used Firefox for years, but as it is now, it's far too buggy, and keeps crashing with Wordpress.

The only thing I want for Chrome right now are Mouse Gestures.

Strange i just switched from chrome to fire-fox as chrome just kept crashing every-time i highlight something on cnet and stuff. Also they are gesture add-ons for firefox.

Well folks,
I haven't given up on the e-mail and PIM services I already use and pay for - but I'm trying out Google.

The Calendar/Contacts site I use has just introduced a Google sync, so this made GMail more attractive to me - i.e. a web mail with a contact list that was in sync with my phone (although you can do this by SyncML now too). So, I've set up my existing paid-for web mail to forward e-mail to GMail, and I used Thunderbird to upload all my e-mail into GMail. Plus I set up a few other rules/filters to get the same day to day functionality that I have with my current e-mail provider.

So I'll see how life with GMail goes over time.

Well, from what twitter's telling me...

Well I tried out GMail+contacts yesterday - did not go well.

First off, their "Archive" folder is the "all mail" label which clumps all of your mail in one place, sent and all. Because I was lax enough to have moved, rather than copied, my IMAP mail over to GMail, their filing system made it a very messy process to get my mail back to my original server.

Also, I put their SyncML settings into my Nokia's SyncML app to try synchronising GMail contacts with my phone's contacts. Rather than synchronising, it duplicated the lot, with first and last names reversed.

Also, on my current IMAP provider, I have it set up to pull mail from another POP server, but to leave the mail it downloads on the server. I tried setting up the same function in GMail, but I kept getting an error saying the server I was connecting to didn't support leaving messages on the server - when I know very well that it does!

So far, I'm not impressed.

Sorry David, all I can say, it all works fine on my Magic, but guess it is all set up for Google services. As in the phone itself, the OS, not just the apps.

I found another cool feature today. I added addresses to my contacts on Gmail, once the phone updated (about 30 seconds later), if I open a contact and click on the address, it opens Google maps and shows you where it is

I keep meaning to switch over to GMail to get out of my crappy 1and1 contract. I'll be interested to hear how it all pans out. I use Docs and GReader every day, both excellent, and Picasa. Yeah, it's fair to say Google owns my ass.

One thing that worries me about using GMail as a primary e-mail account.

It's free, therefore, no terms of service, therefore no legitimate expectation of service. I.e. nobody really responsible (as they would be if you paid them) to keep your e-mail up, and I don't know about you lot, but if my e-mail went down, I would literally be a gibbering wreck.

What does everyone else think about that?

Google have promised 99.9% uptime which is supposed to be better than exchange, they say 10-15 minutes outage per month. Also there not going to be able to convince businesses to change over from exchange if not working half the time so its in their interest to be as reliable as possible.

I agree, it's not in their interest to be slack with GMail, but still, there's no legally binding agreement between me and them that they have to maintain a certain level of service for me.

I'm not at the stage in my life where e-mail means everything to me, so I don't have a need for anything other than free services to use as email (windows live, gmail, ymail). Further down the line if I don't end up with something like a company e-mail address then I'd really think about paying a web host for a dedicated server, they're not too expensive.

If you really want you can pay them $50 a year to get guaranteed 99.9% uptime.

Do you have a link for that?