How many of you totally bought into Apple/Google/MS ecosystem?

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

And what's your rationale behind?

I see myself sort of at the crossroad right now. I have a 2011 Macbook Air, which I love. An old Thinkpad, which I keep just in case. Then I use Android as my phone but also have a windows phone to fall back to. In the meanwhile, I sync with Google Calendar/Contact, avoid iCloud to the best I can. And since Skydrive grandfathered me with 25GB of storage, I find no need to use Gdrive or Dropbox for that matter.

There is always a temptation to lean toward one ecosystem, but clear head prevails each time.

 

[JackMDS]

As an Enthusiasts I do not believe that it is a way to go.

It will be like a Physician believing that there is One Specific medication that cure everything.

I have stuff going on on all three.

 

[Paperlantern]

Same, I use the one that fits the best for what I'm doing. I do not have Google Drive yet but just use Google Docs, I have a Skydrive account and dropbox account and use them for different things because they function differently and have software pieces that behave differently. Each is a tool that fits a purpose and provides a slightly different solution.

 

[yinan]

I love my 2011 Macbook Pro that runs Windows

 

[gmaster456]

For mobile devices (excluding laptops) I tend to stick with apple. For everything else it's Microsoft all the way.

 

[dighn]

windows desktop, apple laptop, android phone, amazon for storage and gmail for email. gonna set up timemachine on freebsd. I don't like vendor lock-in.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I definitely haven't bought in to any one ecosystem.

2011 Mac Mini (server) Desktop, Windows Fileserver, Windows Laptop, iPad, two android phones, planning on getting a Macbook Air...

I use a google apps domain, have it setup with mail.app, iCal, contacts, etc... I use dropbox with work, google drive for a few personal files. Time Machine backup on mac, Crashplan on my Windows fileserver. I also use Apple iCloud/Match, which gives me easy access to all my music at work.

I mostly use Evernote for my cloud notes. Chrome + bookmark/extension syncing.

I currently use Picasa for an online family photo album, but might switch to using Skydrive instead for the larger storage limit (too bad I missed the notices to request being grandfathered at 25GB). Also because it's a little easier to manage as a "hard drive" export in Lightroom versus using a plugin for Picasa.

I've tried using one ecosystem a couple times, there's always something that comes up which pushes me to use more than one service.

As far as my computing goes though, it's mostly seemless. Sure, it'd be super easy to flip the iCloud switch for setup. But once everything I use is setup, it works great.

 

[Paperlantern]

I use Crashplan for my home fileserver as well. I tried BackBlaze but they didnt "support" Server OSs, which is understandable, but they lost my business because of it. Apple Laptop here as well. Windows Desktop. iPhones for me and the Mrs, she has a Toshiba Laptop, and i have an iPad as well.

 

[IamDavid]

I love my 2011 Macbook Pro that runs Windows

Will the new ones do this?

If so I'd be 100% Windows tomorrow.

Current:
Win7 Phone
Android OS
PC/laptop.

 

[lxskllr]

I've bought into the GNU/Linux ecosystem. I won't own Apple, and I tolerate Android as the best of a set of bad choices. Windows is alright on the desktop, but I won't own a locked down portable, especially if I'm paying real money for it.

 

[Zaap]

The whole idea of buying into an 'eco-system' strikes me as something someone's big corporate marketing team came up with and has been running with ever since.

It reminds me of people I knew that would buy every stick of AV equipment they owned from only one make, say Sony, because out of some bit of slick corporate advertising they somehow got it lodged in their brain that a Sony DVD player will work best with a Sony receiver with a Sony TV with a Sony walkman with a Sony... But what if a JVC has better stats, is better rated, at a better price? "B-but.. it's not a Sony!"

Now computer companies want the same level of insane blind loyalty because its insanely profitable. I buy what works best for me, not for someone else's bottom line. If that something is made by Apple, great. (So far, that would be several iPods and several PowerBooks/MacBooks). If it's Microsoft, then great. (Windows on any number of PCs and laptops.) I prefer my Android phone to iOS or WindowsPhone.

All these things usually work just fine with each other, so again all the 'ecosystem' stuff is just some corporate marketing hype to me.

 

[tommo123]

i mostly agree but there are things that can tie you in to a single company (well, make it awkward to move - like switching banks etc). email? i have my emails going back to the mid 90s with gmail. if i swapped it would be a major PITA! i do have my own domain so it's not even just changing addresses on various forums, it's the storage of the emails. same with google calendar and stuff too. i'm not irreversibly tied into google but i do have a foot entrenched in their shit.

 

[Rangoric]

Will the new ones do this?

If so I'd be 100% Windows tomorrow.

Current:
Win7 Phone
Android OS
PC/laptop.

I've already seen reviews of it running Windows 8 (which oddly enough seems to have better out of the box support for it than 7, which has an issue with a driver or two)