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Google CEO — Take Your Data and Run

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the web-two-point-oh-no-there-goes-our-monopoly dept.

BobB writes to tell us that Google is promising to make the data they store for end users more portable and is urging other companies to do the same. From the article: "Making it simple for users to walk away from a Google service with which they are unhappy keeps the company honest and on its toes, and Google competitors should embrace this data portability principle, Eric Schmidt said at the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco."

6 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. for the "omg you google fanboys" people by bunions · · Score: 5, Insightful

    next time you post some nonsense about how "all the slashdot people idolize google for some reason," this would be a good example of why we like them.

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    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    1. Re:for the "omg you google fanboys" people by Headcase88 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I certainly like Google but that's bullshit. Eric is tactful with his words; surely all of this data portability stuff has an additional purpose, like, say, helping bringing valuable data in to Google's services? MS Office is the incumbent here, so of course Google wants to make it easy to transfer data between MS Office and Google Docs & Spreadsheets, for example.

      Not saying it's a bad thing, not saying Google isn't a great company, but I wouldn't take any claims made by x about how great x is at face value.

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      "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
  2. Re:Difficult for more complex data? by chroot_james · · Score: 4, Insightful

    just because a service is given away for free does not mean it's not profitable. google has a lot to loose if people stop using their services...

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    Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.
  3. Obvious first steps..? by CdBee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    IMAP for Gmail, where Tags become Folders dynamically. Send as Emailed DOC/XLS/ODW/ODS for Google Docs

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    I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
  4. Re:Difficult for more complex data? by DragonWriter · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Google also doesn't have much to lose by making their data portable ... almost all their services are free, vs. Salesforce which has the potential to lose millions per year on some of their larger customes.


    They don't stand as much to lose from any one customer leaving, but they face as much of a problem as anyone else if the same percentage of their customers choose to leave. What Google is gambling is that, if they have a good product, the reduction in the disincentive to give it a whirl that comes from people knowing up front that if they decide to leave, it will be painless will gain them more customers than easing out migration will lose them. And also that someone that has a good experience leaving one Google service may be more likely to try another Google service.
  5. API for Contacts? by jj00 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about an API so I can access my Contacts?

    Can someone send this article to Palm? I'm sick of having to export my Palm contacts as vcards and import them into Yahoo (Yes Yahoo - Gmail only accepts csv).