I didn’t realize this until just the other day: Google is becoming the center of my online activity. You can see why:

  • About a year ago, well behind the invite rush, I signed up for Gmail. Now I have four Gmail accounts and neglect the email for my own domains.
  • Google Reader became my RSS reader of choice earlier this year. I also have RSS feeds on my customized iGoogle start page.
  • The only calendar I use is Google’s offering.
  • I use Google Docs more and more (I’m writing this post with it). Having documents available on the go is wonderful. My word processing needs are simple, so it is a perfect solution.
  • Google Analytics track the stats for this site and the photoblog.
  • The RSS feeds for my sites are managed by Feedburner, recently acquired by Google.
  • Google Maps is the first place I look for directions.
  • And of course Google is my search engine of choice.

Surprisingly enough, I don’t mind having one company handle so much of my online activity. I think it stems from just being burned out from signing up for dozens of sites that do different things. The one-stop shop aspects of the Googleverse are hard to resist. So far Google hasn’t done much to worry me in terms of privacy, etc. One has to wonder if the goodwill they have built up will last. In ten years will Google be a popular target like Microsoft is today? MS used to be popular back in the day, so anything is possible.

The real question is whether I’m missing out on better services just because the Google items are more convenient. That said, there are a few things I don’t rely on Google for. I don’t use Blogger for my sites (go WordPress) and I use Flickr, not Picasa Web Albums, to share my pictures online. So at least I’m not 100% Google centered.

Ok, gotta go. I want to see what my apartment looks like from Google Earth. :)

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