I'm all that and more--I'm writing my novel on Google Documents! Somehow I missed the fail the other day, but the thought sent chills down my spine. I back up my novel notes on my hard drive and flash drive...but that's it. My email is backed up on another Gmail account! I'm not rethinking Google in the sense that I'd drop it (it's too convenient), but this definitely makes me realize that it's time to find an extra basket for some of these eggs...

I'm old-fashioned: I pray to the tech Gods.

Crystal-

I read Chris' post and saw where it was going, but I think I felt isolated as we often do that wouldn't happen, really, to all of us. Google knows how important it is, so, would it really go down.

Apparently. Got me thinking about solutions! Thanks for reminding me about Chris' post!

(link without quote) http://www.chrisbrogan.com/when-google-owns-you/


Kristarella-

I fixed the link above. Can't fix the original obviously on Disqus. :)

Being held accountable by all of us might get Google to stop and think. Who knows? I wouldn't give a club my license to scan. Glance at? Sure thing. It's one big question. Who do you trust and where do you go when the service fails?

I don't wanna think about gmail failing and losing all my mail anymore than the next person, but backing up even an online service seems to be ideal.

Anji-

At the very least I'd think about backing everything up!

yeah, you have some good points, girl. google is only convenient if it works and we all wonder a little bit about the privacy issue. i can't imagine going back to my mail app, but maybe i should give it another try?

Gah! I wrote a comment and my computer magically restarted...

Good thoughts about backing up and security. Although, I'm less worried about Google than the Club that scanned my license the other night. Seems like Google has more accountability, they're practically accountable to the internet world... Also, I know some people there and they seem to have high standards and integrity. Perhaps I'm being lulled into a false sense of security ;)

The quote marks on Crystal's link make the link go somewhere else, it's rather odd.

Chris Brogan blogged about this recently...about when Google owns you. It owns me and it has got me thinking. I use so many of their services that I would be lost if it failed. I'll definitely be looking into backup methods now.
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/when-google-owns-you/"