Microsoft. Apple. Amazon. Meta (Facebook). Alphabet (Google). Together, these companies comprise what is known as Big Tech. The services offered by the companies throughout the years are utilized by many businesses and consumers all over the world, including myself.
The business practices of Big Tech, however, are questionable, at best.
Microsoft’s Bill Gates era was marred by predatory and monopolistic business practices, while their current focus on subscription services started a dubious trend across technology. Apple champions themselves as protecting user privacy, but their hardware is designed with no user upgradability and few, it any, user repair options. Amazon has all but declared war on small businesses and their own employees. Meta created a toxic social media environment that fosters disinformation and extreme right wing beliefs, not to mention major privacy concerns. Speaking of privacy, Alphabet wrote the book on accessing user data as the trade off for their “free” services.
In order to move away from these companies as much as possible, I am looking at software and service alternatives that fit some or all of the following criteria:
- Comes from the FLOSS (Free, Libre and Open Source Software) community
- Is platform/hardware agnostic
- Is user/consumer focused
- Is privacy focused
In some cases, I’ve already made the move to providers which fit these criteria. I’ll be discussing their pros and cons, as well as other options you can choose from. In other cases, I’ll be checking out my options as I prepare to make my move away from Big Tech and will bring you along on the journey. There may even be some services which I self host, now that I have a fiber connection for my home and some spare equipment I can put to use. I actually like that idea the most since I would have full control of the software and hardware.
If you’re already using non Big Tech software and services or know of some you think I might be interested in, let me know in the comments.
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