Wilkommen – Here I Stand!
Posted on 03. Sep, 2008 by Mike Halsey in general, internet
My new email address from today is (cough! deleted for this blog) please update your address book deleting my old gmail one.
After an argument I got into online yesterday about the Vista start menu search button, I have decided to jump ship completely from Google and boycott them as a company from now on.
On the website aerotaskforce.com I argued that the search button, which was removed from Vista with service pack 1 should be returned, at the very least with an ‘option’ to turn it back on if users wanted it. This is because the ONLY reason it was removed was because Google wanted it removed to protect their own search interests, and Microsoft caved without a fight. The problem is there were far too many people defending Google’s actions and not sticking up for the consumer, who might benefit from having a search button regardless of what a mighty corporation might want.
Google also released their own web browser yesterday, Chrome (which is pretty useless by the way) for no other reason but to muscle in market share from Internet Explorer and Firefox. The problem I have here is that Mozilla, the foundation that makes Firefox, has a tie-in agreement with Google that they get some money for every search of the ‘default’ search page in the browser. It’s powered by Google unless you hadn’t already guessed. Rather than support Mozilla against Microsoft they’ve launched their own browser which can only harm the already excellent Firefox. The knock-on effects from this will quite possibly be tremendous, handing market share back to Microsoft as Mozilla get less revenue from Google and this in-turn stifles development. We’ve already seen in the past what market dominance does to innovation. For all the many years IE had 98% market share against Netscape there was zero% innovation in web browsers. Thus we’re all in the security mess we’re only just clawing our way out of today.
I’ve had enough of Google’s monopolistic practices and have decided to completely boycott the company. If you use Google’s products and services can I encourage you to do the same!? Google are using their muscle now in ways that are harming consumers.
My call to you..! Don’t use that, use this…
DON’T USE DO USE
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Google Chrome Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox
www.google.com, .co.uk www.live.com, www.cuil.com or www.yahoo.com
Google Earth maps.live.com
Google Docs www.officelive.com or www.acrobat.com
GMail Hotmail (also live), Yahoo MailYou never know, you might even find them better!
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Now it’s down to figuring out what to write here and how to make this interesting 
) I’ll probably start in the coming weeks by writing about what life is like without Google. Anyway I’ve set things up so you can comment on my blog and photos (should you want to that is) and uploaded all my main gallery photos so far. Look for much more in the days to come.
“I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other”
Martin Luther King
Mike
it with others, or 
