Noah Kochanowicz

The Verge’s Installer recently asked their readers to provide some details and feedback about their favourite devices and services from non Google/Amazon/Apple providers. I accidentally made a blog post in the email, attaching that below. 

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Hey! Heard your callout for people dropping services from the big guys. (Top list at the bottom)

I’m emailing you from my Fastmail account that I started using back in 2018, that was my first attempt to de-google and later extend to de-apple. Every new years I try to live “more intentionally” so it’s largely a focus on getting rid of my smartphone but it also extends to thinking about how I’m using my data, what I’m subscribing to, etc. 

It’s been really hard. Where I’m at today is I have a small iCloud subscription for my fiancée and I; we cap our streaming services at one at a time. I use Ente for photo and video backups. For my personal documents, I don’t have a lot, so I just use the small amount of file storage I get through Fastmail.

I listen to music I own, I’m 31 so some of that is from the pre-Spotify days. The rest I’ve collected through Bandcamp or the library. Books and TV I largely get through the library. 

The hard part is not with ditching the devices and services. That largely one or two clicks away. It’s with communicating with others. We’re planning a wedding right now and Google Drive is the best place to collaborate on shared documents. Even thought I’m very comfortable with technology, I don’t want to mess with a home lab or NAS. Our shared calendar is through iCloud. I don’t mind moving it but it’d be a pain for my fiancée. WhatsApp needs a primary device like an iPhone or Android and that’s where my fiancée communicates the most as she has friends and family overseas. Even my rec leagues communicate through WhatsApp. 

I’ve generally accepted that I can’t fully move away from Apple or Google but I do what I can and try to do a bit more every year. 

My top list: