Despite all the hate being leveled at Google from Uncle Sam, various startups and rival companies (I’m looking at you Apple!), I’m a passionate fan of the numerous Google services available, including Gmail, Google Voice, Google Chrome, Google+ (note: here’s my profile link), AdSense, Analytics, Search (of course!) and Android (note: I’m still not ditching my iPhone, but I do love some of the features available to Android, especially regarding third party apps).
However in the past few weeks months (or months?) I’ve started to use other services instead, some of which ironically are not attempting to compete with the Google Goliath. Here are just a few that I’ve started using instead of the Google alternative.
Out: Google Calender, In: Remember The Milk
Why?: If it weren’t for Remember The Milk’s (or RTM for short) iOS app I probably wouldn’t even consider ditching Google Calendar in the first place (as I loathe RTM’s web interface). However the startup has released a slick to-do list that is not only easier to create alerts upon, but also has simplified the process when it comes to creating events. Even better I can easily schedule events on every second Tuesday without having to dig too deeply into the “events” section.
I’m now subscribed to their premium service (which costs $25/year) and while I have tried rival to-do list managers (including Google tasks), few were as elegant as well as powerful as RTM.
Out: Google Docs, In: Evernote
Why?: Even though Google Docs is far more powerful than Evernote, the latter is far easier to use when it comes towards creating notes and “documents” than the former. I also enjoy the fact that I can record audio notes straight from my iPhone into my Evernote note (which comes handy when you’re in a lecture or meeting and the main speaker is speaking way too fast).
I also love the ability to easily clip web pages into Evernote, and highlight relevant content for a friend to checkout or even for a blog post. Of course Google Docs isn’t completely useless to me, as I still need a simple spreadsheet solution that doesn’t rhyme with the word Excel.
Out: YouTube, In: Qik
Why?: There are only 2 reasons why I prefer Qik (the premium version) over YouTube right now. The first is that I can broadcast live video for up to 90 minutes (note: YouTube also has live video but they have yet to roll it out to my account) and the second is Qik’s iOS app that allows you to apply effects upon the video as you’re broadcasting live.
Unfortunately not many people inside and outside of the geekverse use Qik (most are on Ustream, Viddy, Vimeo, etc.). Since Microsoft technically owns Qik (as they inherited the service after purchasing Skype) I’m hesitant about relying entirely upon the service so as a precaution I am automatically porting all of my Qik videos to YouTube as I’d rather be safe than sorry).
Out: Picasa and Picnik, In: Instagram
Why?: At the end of the day all I want to do is quickly edit a photo that I’ve taken on my iPhone. While both Picasa and Picnik are powerful tools to edit images with, they are often too slow for my taste, especially if I want to post something while on the go.
Instagram is probably closer to Flickr than its Google rivals, although truth be told it’s a lot more fun to use than any picture service that I’ve tried. Unfortunately Instagram is only available for iPhone users, so I’ll continue to use Picasa as well as Picnik until Instagram launches a decent web app as well a desktop app.
What about _______?
There are a few other services I am testing out as “Google replacements,” but as of now Google is either providing a superior service or the rival services are too expensive for my taste.
Is there a service that you use instead of Google? And please don’t say Bing! (as we’ve had a falling out since the hiybbprqag scandal).
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