2019: Moving to Alt Tech

One of my goals for 2019 is to make a more concentrated effort to get away from the tech giants that dominate the market. Companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, etc have shown they care little for privacy or free speech and I feel it is time for me to do my part in showing them that this is unacceptable. Complaining about them does nothing. They need to be shown that we don't need them and the only way to do that is to drop them.

Of course, dropping them is easier said and done. These companies have monopolies that seem to grow daily. It's easy to think you've moved away to a different company only to discover it's owned by the exact same company you thought you were avoiding. Often times there are no available alternatives at all. Additionally, there are practicalities that may not always allow for moving away.

So, with those limitations in mind, I plan on doing two things. 1) I will outright eliminate use of the big tech companies where ever I can. 2) When it is impossible to eliminate using them, I'll limit my use as much as possible. The areas I plan on tackling are the following:

Web Browsers
I've actually already started on this. I have eliminated the use of Chrome and Edge on my PC. Currently I use Vivaldi for almost everything, except when the occasional webpage doesn't work on that, in which case I use Firefox. That being said, I still would like to see what alternative browsers are out there and if any have improved since the last time I tried them. I also haven't made the switch on any of my mobile devices and need to do that.

Email
Currently I have a Gmail account. Actually I have a couple. Replacing those has been something I've been thinking about for a couple of years now, but it is a daunting task. I remember the last time I switched email accounts I had contacts emailing me for years on the old account, even though they were told many times I no longer used that old account. It is not an experience I relish having to go through again. But it must be done.

Search Engines
This is another area that I have already started on. I have eliminated Google altogether. Currently I use a combination of DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and occasionally Bing. But I know I can do better. I really should eliminate Bing and probably Yahoo as well. So I will be doing more research and experimenting with the alternatives.

Social Media
This is a huge category, since there are many social media platforms with different uses. It is also one where moving away is easier said than done. For example, I'd love to delete Facebook altogether. I honestly only log in a couple of times a week, at the most, and probably wouldn't even miss it. However I do use it for business and to keep in contact with friends and family. Another example is YouTube. I'd love to switch to alternatives, but the creators I follow either don't have channels on the alternatives or do have channels, but post inconsistently. So I think with many social media platforms I will have to make accounts on the alternatives, and use them as much as possible, and then limit my use on the big platforms as much as possible. The platforms I'm looking for alternatives to are:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Tumblr
• Twitch

My criteria for new networks is that they either have a flat out free speech policy or that they have clear guidelines for anything they don't want on their platform and apply any penalties evenly and fairly. No banning one person for saying the wrong words and then letting a dozen off the hook for the same or worse, like Patreon and Twitter. No banning something and then implementing a terrible bot that bans or penalizes people for posts that were completely within the guidelines, like Tumblr. And no excuses of "we just don't have the resources." These platforms must make clear guidelines that are within their means of enforcing fairly. Any new platforms I try also need to take privacy seriously.

Amazon
Here is another area I've already made great strides in eliminating. I cancelled my Prime membership years ago, but still shopped at Amazon. I had been wanting to stop shopping with them for a while, but I wasn't truly motivated until my mom had a particularly horrible customer service issue with them this past fall. That helped me kick the habit I haven't made a purchase since October of 2018. Since then I've been looking for both online and local shopping alternatives. I also just got a tablet to replace my Kindle Fire, so I can eliminate that now. As mentioned above, I do need to find an alternative to Twitch, but I'm happy to already be this far along in removing Amazon from my life.

Music Streaming
Currently I use Spotify, but I want to move away from it. I have already looked into alternatives, but there doesn't seem to be anything free that offers the ability to make custom playlists and play on demand, like Spotify does. Soundcloud is the closest I've found, but it doesn't have the range of artists that Spotify has. I also don't find it to be as user friendly. I don't know if this is something I'll be able to find a replacement for, but I'll be keeping my eye out to see if there anything new pops up in 2019.

Android
As I mentioned above, I was recently gifted a new tablet. While this will allow me to get rid of my Kindle and further free me from Amazon, it is an Android (* cough * Google) device. I'm going to look into if it is possible to wipe the OS and install and new one. I recently read about an independent OS called Sailfish. But I don't know much about it or if it is even possible to install it on my tablet. I also don't know what sorts of unintended consequences that may have to the functionality of my tablet. So that is something I will be doing a lot of research on before going that route. In the mean time, I'm going to look into alternative app stores, so I don't have to use Google Play, and look into any other ways I can secure and privatize my tablet.

Windows
Realistically, I don't think this is going to happen. I use my PC heavily for both work and play and I need an OS that can support the various software I use daily. I'm not sure the OS alternatives, such as Linux, have that capability. To be fair, though, it has been years since I've looked into alternatives, so I will be looking into them once again.

Payment Processors
At the moment I mostly use PayPal for both business and personal use. I also have a Square account that I occasionally use for business. PayPal's recent stunt with SubscribeStar and Patreon was messed up; it looks to me like they are trying to help Patreon keep it's monopoly. I don't know if Square has done anything questionable, so I'll have to do some research, but I do know it has the same CEO as Twitter, which is a red flag to me. Additionally, even though I never used Patreon, I would like to find alternatives to that. I think the concept is a really good one and is something I could possibly use in the future.

Outside of the questionable business practices these payment platforms have, I also think it is simply wise to diversify the places my money runs through. What if PayPal went out of business tomorrow and I somehow couldn't get my money from them? That could really hurt me financially. But if I have my money spread out between different payment processors, then hopefully I can minimize any potential losses.

So there is my long list of things to do in order to get away from big tech. It is a bit daunting, but I'm hoping that by taking it one step at a time, by this time next year I'll be able to say I did my part. Steemit is one of the alt-social media platforms I'm looking into. This is my first post here and, if I end up liking the format of this site, I plan on posting my thoughts and observations as I undertake this task.