deGoogle / deCorpo efforts: Part 1 - Tipping Point
Henrypunk 2027
How did I get here?
For a while now, I’ve been feeling a growing anxiety around lock-in. It started, as almost everything in life regrettably does, with my phone. I made my first big switch in years at the end of 2024 and started using an Android device. The transition was a little painful but, within a few days, I was happily ensconced within Google’s ecosystem and had migrated everything that mattered away from Apple.
The process didn’t sit well with me, though. Whenever I thought about potentially switching again in the future, I hated the prospect of ripping it all out again. I was locked in. It was convenient and comfortable but when every default choice further pushes reliance on a single source, it feels too much like a trap.
Why do I care?
It may be a common millennial refrain but I feel like mainstream tech has lost its way. Enshittification continues apace, big corporations pull a double fuck-you by maximising profits and bending the knee to whoever is in power, privacy & ownership for consumers is being eroded, and real choice feels like it takes more effort and agency than ever before.
So what now?
Within reason, I’m going to try to get out. Out of Google, Apple, Microsoft or any other big tech vendor’s clutches and onto services that are more focused on providing good, private services where I’m the customer, not the product. I want to spend some time, energy, and (where necessary) money figuring out what works for me and what sacrifices are acceptable.
Then, importantly, I’ll live with it. I’ll post updates and see where things stand at the end of the year. In preparation for this, I watched a lot of videos and read blogs & posts about other people’s efforts and recommendations. They were mostly focused on the choosing and doing, however, and less on the living with it. If this is going to be of use to anyone else, I want to make sure there are some longer term learnings.
What’s next?
My favourite part - planning! I need to map out all of the services that currently rely on tech’s main roster of villains, what alternatives exist, and what I need to understand & do to make the switch. I'll also be spending more time discussing the why behind my decisions.
Also, if you want to share your experiences, send me any tips or recommendations, or just talk to me more about this, find me on Bluesky - @hendubz.bsky.social