One Digital Ecosystem Has Me Captured
There are many digital ecosystems that I am a part of. The tech giants all have my attention in one form or another.
Microsoft: I subscribe to Office 365, my PC uses Windows 10(upgradable to Windows 11), and I use One Drive for some of my digital storage. I use One Note for listing projects, and I use Microsoft Bing for web searches. I own an Xbox One S, and I have an occasional Game Pass Ultimate subscription, about every other month (usually paid for with my Microsoft Points from Bing searches)
Apple: Many people say that Apple is the most difficult digital ecosystem to escape. But I use very little of Apple’s software and services. I own an iPhone SE 2016 and iPhone SE 2020. I use a minimum of iCloud storage for my phone. The main reason that I am not strongly tied to Apple is mostly due to the next tech company on this list.
Google: I thank Google for not restricting their software to Android/Chrome OS/Chrome browsers. I used to own Android phones, but Google has all of their apps available on the iPhone, so I didn’t really lose anything from the migration. I own a Google Home mini speaker. I have a Chromecast and a Chromecast Ultra. I use Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Keep, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Translate, Google Drive, and YouTube Premium (which includes ad-free YouTube and YouTube Music). I also use the Google search app, but only for customized articles. I also use Google Stadia from time to time.
Despite using Google software the most, there is one company that I am more entrenched in its ecosystem than any other.
Amazon: I own an Amazon Echo mini. I have an Amazon Prime membership, which I use for the 2-day or less shipping and Prime video. I don’t really use any of the other benefits of Amazon Prime, because I pay Amazon directly for several full services. One exception is the unlimited photos on Amazon Photos. I use that benefit to offset the memory for my annual membership to Amazon Drive storage. I have a Kindle Unlimited membership, which is like Netflix for digital books. I have an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription (which is discounted $1.00 a month with the Amazon Prime membership, although it used to be a $2.00/month discount😒). I no longer have a Fire tablet, but I appreciate its value proposition. Amazon subscriptions are difficult for me to cancel, particularly Amazon Prime.
Why do I own overlapping subscription services?
It’s complicated, but the short answer is it just works for me. I have multiple digital storage drives because I don’t want all of my digital eggs in one basket, so to speak. I have it set up so that I could easily transfer data to another cloud storage drive if one should be shut down. In regards to having 2 streaming music services, I was with Amazon Unlimited Music first, and it pairs with my Amazon Echo well. I have YouTube Unlimited with YouTube Music because I am grandfathered into the old pricing of $9.99 a month for the original pricing when YouTube Premium was called YouTube Red. YouTube music also pairs nicely with my Google Home Mini speaker. Both music services have features that are unique to their respective platforms.
What tech company ecosystems are you a part of and why? I’d love to hear your responses! Thank you for reading, and have a most pleasant day/evening!
