Breaking Away From Google
One journalist’s quest to wean the tech behemoth out of his daily life.
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Episode Notes
Host Aaron Mak talks with journalist Nithin Coca about Coca’s attempt to abstain from using any Google products in his daily life. They discuss why he did it, the useful alternatives he found for specific apps, the quirks of using different tools abroad, and the surprising benefits he found in starting over. They also speculate on whether a typical consumer could sustainably do the same thing and what that means for the state of the industry.
After the interview, Shannon Palus joins Aaron for this week’s edition of “Don’t Close My Tabs.”
Stories discussed on the show:
Shannon’s Tab: “Who Would I Be Without Instagram?” by Tavi Gevinson
Aaron’s Tab: “A Brutal Murder, a Wearable Witness, and an Unlikely Suspect,” by Lauren Smiley
Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.
If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.
If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
