The "good" guys: Google!!

     I have a friend, Kevin Kraft, who worked for Google for a while.  Kevin told me that all over the Google offices, on most all walls, there is a sign reading, "Do no evil," or something to that effect--I can never remember exactly what the phrase was and Kevin corrects me each time I quote it to him.  But the message was clear to me and confirmed my belief that I was right to use Google products such as the calendar, browser,email and search engine, exclusively.
     One of the things which has always impressed me is Google's focus on not cluttering up your computer with a bunch of spam, malware or spyware.  Yes, they track your usage, and keep some of what you do on file.  But, truth be known, everyone does this.  And, as I understand it, Google's purpose for doing so is generally to improve their products and services.  And, in the interest of full disclosure, this blog is hosted and sponsored by Google.  But I use it because it is one of their products.  I am a faithful customer.
  It is also true that recently they have been in the news for a plan to have different tiers of service for some websites, depending on payment.  This does concern me.  I can only hope they come to their senses soon and realize that this is not the sort of thing their fans would want or expect of them.
          Today I was again impressed as I was exploring the terms and service for Google Voice, telephone service.   I could not believe how simple, straight-forward, brief and reader-friendly they were.  You can read and understand these in a minute or less.  There is no excessive "legal" wording.  There is nothing but plain, simple wording. Why can't all such terms of service be like that?  Why are all the others so long and wordy and confusing?  I can only believe it is 1) so you won't read them and 2) so you won't understand them if you do.  That way you may end up generating excessive fees, penalties, or not know when you can hold a company liable or challenge one of more of their practices.
     Yet it is just like Google to keep it so easy and to-the-point--just like their products (the ones I have used anyway): simple, functional and without evil!
  I wanted to highlight them for this.  This blog is not just about the "bad guys."  It has to be about those people and companies who really do make an effort to offer a quality service, or who focus on positive treatment of people, too.  If for no other reason than for balance.  So, if you want to see what a terms of service should look like, check out this example from Google: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/legal-notices.html.  And ,if like me you are considering downsizing your enormous cell phone bill with a land line,you might consider this option.