Quote Originally Posted by hanratty21 View Post
It's interesting that Google has basically now become the 'enemy of the state' that all of the tinfoil hat community always felt that Microsoft would become. As you said, they don't get bundled into the same hatred bundle as MS because of all of their 'cool, free apps,' but Bill Gates seems more interested in stopping hurricanes now than becoming master of the universe. Perhaps it's time to rethink who the real bad guy is...
To be honest, I never thought that Bill Gates was a bad person; nor Microsoft. Their business practices were pretty brutish but I couldn't get behind that whole "Microsoft is evil..." mantra that the geeks were running around with.

Google isn't really doing anything other than Microsoft's original "let them have it for free" mentality... Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Office 95... they were the most pirated software titles, ever for the most part. And Microsoft knew it. But they got themselves into homes, then into offices.

Google is "giving" away this free stuff but had learned one thing from Microsoft... if you know your target audience and their preferences and tendencies... "you got 'em". From this information, Google makes their money in terms of targeted ads, services that people "magically" want... and they provide that.

Google Voice... I was/am a GrandCentral user that moved on over before this current rash of invites. As somebody stated... my Google Voice number is the one I give out to people that I'd rather they don't have my cellphone number. The privacy concerns; they're there but I just don't really concern myself with it - too many other options for communication.

But... heh. I'm watching and learning... just not too sure what my reaction should be.