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Comment by news_to_me | Hacker News Reader

I know this isn't a very good answer for most people, but for me at least, I trust Dropbox way more than Google. I really dislike the direction and influence Google has on the Web right now, and I'm more or less ideologically opposed to them as a company (and in general, any giant monopolistic company).

I hate the fact that I have to "vote with my dollar," but in the end I just feel better giving my money to an "independent" company like Dropbox or Snapchat than to Google or Facebook.

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I got tired of keeping track of changes at Google, plus their programs are very heavy in power consumption. Dropbox is quick, has always worked for me, and you don't even notice it in the background.

I try not to touch Microsoft stuff because of their constant changes too, and I was annoyed at their advertisements in Windows 10. I'd rather just not deal with any of their stuff.

I would probably stop using Dropbox if Apple started offering the ability to share folders with other iCloud users.

I don't. Google provides way more for a lot less money. You can encrypt your own content on either providers. For GSuite you get literally almost every service you can imagine, include a phone number that you can make unlimited calls to/from landlines with using your computer.

It's not just about cost-effectiveness, it's about which company is making the Web a better place — and I see a lot of Google's activities actively moving in the wrong direction.

For me, it's more about the companies than the product (which, like I said, is probably an unsatisfactory criteria for most people).

Glad you're enjoying Google's services though :)

In a lot of ways making the world a better place is about cost-effectiveness, and honestly what is Dropbox doing? Are they the main contributor to Nextcloud? Yeah, Google isn't much better in that regard, but I can buy a descent $199 unlocked Android phone now at Costco, and have all of Google services integrated. They also provide a lot of descent open source tools. Have you tried Kubernetes? :)

> In a lot of ways making the world a better place is about cost-effectiveness

I think we just have different worldviews. Certainly economics are important, but I try not to boil everything down to dollars and cents.

And for sure, Google has done a ton of useful and interesting things that I'm grateful for. But they also contribute to undermining online privacy, and use their size to wield disproportionate power in politics, etc. etc.

The CEO of Dropbox is listed as a founder of FWD.us:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FWD.us#Keystone_XL_oil_pipelin...

I agree that Google contributes to undermining online privacy, but I still don't see Dropbox doing more in that regard. I'm sorry, but I really am not a fan of Dropbox after my experience with them, so I am inclined to be a vocal critic of their service (or lack thereof).

The last thing I want is to get all my services from the same provider.

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