So it appears that Google is taking over the world, and I don’t think I am doing anything to stop it either. I use Google’s Gmail, Firefox with Google Browser Sync, Google Chat, Google Reader for RSS and Atom feeds, Google’s personalized home page associated with my gmail account, and of course I use Google’s search engine exclusively. It would be very hard for me not to use Google’s FREE services. Here’s what I like about each of the services:

Gmail
I use Gmail for all my email because you can now send from any of your email addresses using Google’s webmail, a VERY awesome feature! So now, by having all of my email forward to my Gmail inbox, and setting up all my addresses to be able to send from Gmail, I can go to one interface (a very nice, easy to use interface) for all my email needs when I am away from my laptop, and therefore away from my software based email client. In short, Gmail is great, well thought out, and very user friendly!

Google Browser Sync
I used to use Safari almost exclusively, but there are a bunch of plugins not available for Safari that are available for Firefox. But when I discovered Google Browser Sync, it pushed me over the edge and made me switch! Google Browser Sync does more than just sync your bookmarks across computers, it syncs cookies, preferences, passwords, and if you set it to do so, it can even sync open sessions complete with tabs! The only improvement I would make is to make the bookmarks accessible through their web based bookmark utility (which I don’t currently use because it isn’t integrated), that way when I am not at one of my own computers I could still access my bookmarks.

Google Chat
Google Chat is of the jabber protocol and can therefore connect to all my other chat mediums through transports which is the main reason I use it. It is associated with my Gmail account as are most other services for Google.

Google Reader
I had been using Safari for RSS feeds, but again the problem with this was the feeds were only available to me on one machine, or rather the status of my feeds. Google reader is an online utility and works great. It is also associated with my Gmail account.

Google’s Personalized Home Page
Here’s the beauty, I have my Gmail inbox, Google Reader, Netflix, Weather and several other things all summarized on my Google Personalized Home page. It really is great. Can you guess? It is associated with my Gmail account.

Google’s Search Engine
I like Google’s Search Engine because it seems like they are the best at turning up what I am looking for.

Should all this be cause for alarm? Does Google have us right where they want us? Well sort of, but there is nothing forcing us to use their services. And while life wouldn’t be as easy without them, I personally would still be able to live life without Google. I choose to use Google because they make my life easier. I can understand the concern that some people have about Google, but at this point I’m just not buying it. One of the arguments is that Google is tracking everything I do. Well sort of… They can track what websites I go to from their site via what links I click on in their search. So? I’m not doing anything illegal! If I’m using their service, there is nothing wrong with them tracking how I use it! Every other website on the planet monitors what links you click on their site, why should it be any different with Google?

Anyway, I’m not planning on terminating my use of Google because it makes my life easier.