Google Now

I have an appalling confession to make. Secretly, for the last few months, I have been quietly moving away from Apple, Samsung and Microsoft. I have moved everything except my home laptop to The (Don’t Be) Evil Empire. I have moved to Google. And when the laptop is due for renewal… well, maybe this is my final laptop.

This has not been without some pain. My new Pixel C tablet sustained a scratch. I have no idea how. I have a keyboard case and a soft sleeve that it lives in. I contacted Google as soon as I found the issue. Within five minutes, a brand new replacement was coming to me and it arrived the next day. No questions asked.

My Pixel phone is the best phone I have ever seen. The software is unbelievable.

My Ultra HD 4K Chromecast just works.

Google Drive just works. You get unlimited photo storage from Google phones and tablets. Yes, unlimited. For free. Forever. Ask Apple about that.

Google Play Music just works, on all my mobile devices and on any computer. You can upload 50,000 songs to the cloud for free. You need to pay for the privilege with Apple iTunes. Amazon is nowhere near as generous.

YouTube Red is coming to the UK any minute now, and it will be free with Google Play Music.

Google Home is not available in the UK. Yet.

Yes, Google wants to know a little too much about how I think and where I am going. But so does everyone else. At least Google is upfront about it.

Google. Not just a search engine. It just works.