Just trying out a new tool. One button: "Sign in with Google". No password, one click, you are in. That is how I ended up with dozens, maybe hundreds of accounts, and every time my digital seatbelt got a little tighter. What started with Search, Chrome and YouTube is now everywhere: Android on your phone, Google TV in the living room, Android Automotive in your car.
With Microsoft, the tie is in our work. We wanted the convenience of mail, calendar, documents, chat and logins that work together as if by magic. And it really does work well. But replace Word and Excel, and all sorts of things are still attached: your accounting software that reads your mail, your CRM. Every extra integration is an extra seatbelt.
If ultimate convenience costs us our independence, what is self-determination worth? In money, or in inconvenience?
The tightest belt may still be coming: AI. The more you tell your AI, the more it can do for you, and the less you feel like switching. I make my living with AI and I am in it myself. With business subscriptions, your data is not used for training by default. But your documents, business ideas and sensitive data are stored with American companies, and the US government can demand them with an order under the CLOUD Act, even if the server is in Europe. Uncomfortable? Yes!
The danger of Claude and ChatGPT is that you stay because you can no longer leave, not because you want to.
In the coming weeks I will explore how we can set up AI so that you want to stay, but nothing stops you from leaving.
