Background #
In January 2025, I and took inventory of my stuff (digital services / subscriptions, etc). I realized that in the past ~year, I spent a sizeable amount of money for an Apple MacBook Pro, iPhone 15, and online subscriptions (iCloud+, Adobe Creative Cloud, Capture One, steaming services, etc). At the same time, I was pretty frustrated by Apple’s insistence that its lackluster AI tooling be integrated throughout the Apple product experience.
At the same time, I had become increasingly cynical skeptical realistic around the privacy and security implications of an Intelligent Apple listening to every aspect of my interactions with its products. I discovered many cases which reveal the failure of a company or institution to operate in a manner which prioritizes end-user security, privacy, and trust – even Harvard has been known to crawl into spaces, uninvited.
Foreground #
But what is one to do when confronting the Technopoly? I was surprised to learn that Google Pixel phones (at least a generation old) could be purchased for significantly depreciated prices on eBay. By using GrapheneOS, one can sandbox Google services, creating a deGoogled Android phone. I tried it and (mostly) love it.
The great thing about GrapheneOS is that you can create different profiles, effectively containerize different apps to ensure they will not be able to access a range of personal data, telemetry, and services. For example, I have all of my Google apps (such as Google Maps or Google Translate) in a self-designated Google-only profile. This profile does not contain any other apps; it also does not have access to Contacts, Internet, Photos, etc, which are on the Primary profile.
And because Microsoft is even worse with its snooping – AI features or not), I searched for computer alternatives. I found relatively recent Lenovo laptops on eBay for much cheaper prices. I purchased a three-year old laptop for roughly $300 and installed CachyOS, an Arch Linux-based distribution. I hate Microsoft. Skipping all the nitty gritty growing pains – in a month, I successfully excised myself from Meta (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Threads), Apple (iCloud+, iPhone, MacBook Pro, AppleTV+), and Googed (Android, Pixel 8) ecosystems. Fine – I still use YouTube – but I am logged out most of the time! And I do still have gmail accounts and files in Google Docs, but I am slowly migrating to Libre Office.
After being asked to pay $100 to update my v2 Cargo site to the current v3, I decided to leave them, too. At the same time, I replaced much of what I loved about Are.na (bookmark and PDF management) with KaraKeep.
I use SyncThing and Tailscale to securely sync and connect devices. This syncing service replicates the ease of the Apple ecosystem and it has (mostly) been great. To remedy the loss of my Cargo site, I set up my own VPS to host my (this) Hugo site. I registered my domain according to this blog whose content informed the selection of my VPS and taught me the wonders of punycode.
To get around my remaining internet accounts without Apple Passwords, I now use KeePass and Firefox (with extensions like uBlock Origin, ClearURLs), and KeePass XC for password management and safe safer internet browsing across my devices.
I ended up with a used Lenovo t14 and z13, a custom desktop machine – all running Linux and, together, costing me less money than the MacBook Pro purchased in late 2023. I use them for anything ranging from computation work to casual internet browsing. I promise I did all of this before Pewdiepie did this or this (but I do admit to sharing the sentiment of feeling like a tin-foil-hat-wearing, mountain-dwelling crazy person whenever I tell anyone about this journey).