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Breaking Up with Google Play: Why Conversations Is Now Free

708 points · 296 comments · ezst

  1. 4chandaily · · focus · HN ↗
    Customer support has gotten so terrible. Now that all big companies have terrible support, none of them are punished for it. You can still occasionally find people who give a shit in small business, but that is it. Google is probably one of the worst offenders of all. I don't know what the solution is, it seems like the only way to get any satisfaction on an issue at a big corp anymore is a social medial call-out like this one.

    If you are here, thank you for Conversations, Daniel, it has been my go-to for years for communicating with friends and family.

    1. utopiah · · focus · HN ↗
      That's because you the user are not the customer of Google and such services. You are actually the product being sold to the customer, namely advertising companies, by Google.

      The farmer take care of his pigs but only to the point they get slaughtered.

      1. 4chandaily · · focus · HN ↗
        This gotcha only works if you are a user of only their free services.

        When Google charges me a monthly fee for storage, takes a percentage of my Play Store sales, or manufactures a Pixel that I purchase from their online store, I am absolutely their customer. I may also be providing data they will sell, but I am still paying them for goods or services and that makes me a customer.

        The problem is that they continue treating their customers like livestock, and it seems they have little incentive to change.

        1. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
          They can treat their customers like livestock because their customers are okay with it. Why is that?

          My hypothesis: turkeys think the farm is an amazing life until the week before Thanksgiving. Nobody really groks that Google is shit until it's too late.

          1. fn-mote · · focus · HN ↗
            These pithy sayings are not adding to the dialog.

            Please try to engage more deeply.

            For example, connect your turkeys more explicitly to a point you are making about Google. When is Thanksgiving coming? What will it look like?

            1. mitxela · · focus · HN ↗
              That's every time Google does something bad to a customer. Such as the one who was banned for his son's medical photos. Or the one who was tricked into enabling passkeys and then couldn't sign in any more and called support.
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