Mohamad Al Karbi

I’m Google Free – finally!

Posted on

by

Mohamad Al Karbi

Yesterday, I moved my last video from YouTube to SmugMug!

ImGoogleFree

SmugMug is photos storing place but it supports video clips too:

  • Full HD
  • Up to 3GB in size
  • 20 minutes in length

This is enough for me. Honestly, I’ve been there for more than one month by now and my experience is still totally positive. Feel free to check my gallery page

Google Photos and Instagram weren’t the preferred ones to me. Flickr and OneDrive were better but not that perfect. Apple Photos was the best for storing photos. But it has two big issues:

  1. A lot of apps requires access to photos (privacy concern).
  2. Sharing is bad (this alone needs another article)…

Besides, all have limitations when it comes to videos. So, you still need another service for storing your videos such as YouTube, Dailymotion, or Vimeo.

On the other hand, there are people who don’t store their media online at all; rather they keep them offline and use Facebook or Whatsapp / Telegram for sharing if needed!

P.S., I might be able to say the same for Microsoft’s and Apple’s, but unfortunately, I still use their hardware and/or operating systems! 😉

In summary, all I’m trying to say is simply:

If you store your pictures and videos online, consider SmugMug or similar alternatives. Try to avoid the big companies; i.e., Google Photos & YouTube, MS OneDrive, Apple iPhotos, and Facebook Instagram.

—

If this resonated with you, let’s stay in touch. No spam.

Join 3,701 other subscribers

Filed under category:

Tagged with:

,

Comments

27 responses to “I’m Google Free – finally!”

  1. kirizar Avatar
    kirizar

    You may have to write a post about my Luddite tendencies; I only understood about 5% of what you were talking about. If that! I remember laughing when I discovered my father refused to get a fax machine for his law office—though, in his defense, his was probably a matter of frugality rather than fear of the unknown. I just feel too overwhelmed by the speed with which technologies come and go. For example, I’m still mourning the loss of the photoshopping program I had. (Can’t remember it’s name anymore, so not that huge a grief, but i haven’t replaced it despite loathing the one that comes with my Dell.)

    I think I’ve confessed enough to fully expose my technological faults. Thanks for listening.

    Reply
    1. kirizar Avatar
      kirizar

      And that was supposed to read “I may have to write a post…”

      I should not respond before my first cup of tea in the morning!

      Reply
      1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
        Mohamad Al Karbi

        Oh Kirizar, I’m very sorry. It seems that I forgot myself and wrote technical terms only.
        Hmm, what I was trying to say simply: “If you store your pictures and videos online, consider SmugMug.com or similar alternatives. Try to avoid the big companies; i.e., Google Photos & YouTube, MS OneDrive, Apple iPhotos, and Facebook Instagram”.

        I’m glad to hear your confession 🙂
        I’m trying my best to bring technical topics in simple way. Especially when we know that the coming era is going to be an online one with more tech involvement and privacy invasion.

        I’m always glad and honored to read your comments and your posts. Thank you dear

      2. kirizar Avatar
        kirizar

        And you are a most gentlemanly reader. However, I fear you are setting yourself a Herculean task if you attempt to bring me up to speed on current terminology and tech stuff. My speed is slow—think glacially slow and you’ll be close! I appreciate your efforts though.

      3. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
        Mohamad Al Karbi

        Thank you and any time. Now, I have to bring daughter here. She adores stuffs related to Zeus and Poseidon (Percy Jackson)… 🙂

      4. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
        Mohamad Al Karbi

        This also reminds me of a Professor of mine that used to mention the fax in its beginning as a machine where you put a paper on one side (location) and it’s transferred to another side (location)! I was dying to see the fax machine then!!! 😀

  2. Crystal Avatar
    Crystal

    Congrats on being Google Free. Wish I could. I need to have a Google profile to comment on a lot of the blogs I follow and I need to have a blog on Google to belong to a Cat group I’m in.
    Will you still keep this site Address?

    Reply
    1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
      Mohamad Al Karbi

      Thanks a lot my dear Crystal. Honestly, the word “Google Free” isn’t totally correct. I still search for video clips on YouTube. I still use Google Analytics for my websites. Some colleagues share with me some Google docs to collaborate… So, yes, I won’t delete my Google address/profile in the near future. By the way, I used to love Blogger from Google: https://mohamadkarbi.com/blogger-vs-wordpress/

      Reply
  3. inese Avatar
    inese

    Smugmug – is it a Californian website? I remember looking it up some years ago.

    Reply
    1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
      Mohamad Al Karbi

      Thank you, Inese. I’m not sure about the exact location of this company. I know about them last year when they bought Flickr. I used to be long time user of Flickr. So, recently I got the guts to try it; and wow, the options are much better than Flickr.

      Reply
      1. inese Avatar
        inese

        I might try too. I have some 50 pictures on Flickr from 2007 🙂

      2. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
        Mohamad Al Karbi

        Hope you enjoy it. If I can be of any assistance, please don’t hesitate asking 🙂
        Please note that Flickr now allows up to 1000 pics for free. SmugMug on the other hand, isn’t free at all!

      3. inese Avatar
        inese

        Yes, but they help you sell your stuff.
        I never liked Flickr, started using it in 2007 to follow my friends.

      4. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
        Mohamad Al Karbi

        In that case, I think you won’t regret it, Inese. They give you a 14 days trail. Then, I can also you give you a referral link to get 20% discount… Good luck

      5. inese Avatar
        inese

        Thanks, I will think about that 🙂

  4. Image Earth Travel Avatar
    Image Earth Travel

    Lucky you and well done!
    I’ve heard of Smugmug but really don’t want to move anything right now. We have saying it IT: “if it ain’t broke, don’t touch!” Only wish more platforms would follow this principle as I see so often that they’re created without usability testing – it’s so annoying. I hope that my 2 sites are easy to use for people. 😉

    Reply
    1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
      Mohamad Al Karbi

      That’s very correct and valid point, Nilla. I wanted to try this company since the time they bought Flickr. Because, I was searching for a company other than the big ones (Google, MS, Apple) to store my photos/videos. To be honest, Flickr has more visitors…
      Your sites are amazing and I never find any difficulty.. not to mention that I’m big fan of you, your stories, and photos…

      Reply
      1. Image Earth Travel Avatar
        Image Earth Travel

        I store my original photo files on external drives then share what’s on both of my sites. I’m sorry to say, I’m of the old school when it comes to the Cloud and other platforms.
        Thank you Mohamad for your kind feedback.
        My back ground is in Usability but also Technical Writing so try and develop my sites so they’re easily navigable…but there’s always room for improvement. 😉

      2. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
        Mohamad Al Karbi

        External Drives (offline) is the most private way of course. For me, i like to keep all my photos and videos online (unlisted) and share with all (my house, mom, bros and sists, and friends…). You sites as I mentioned are great and always fun to spend one’s time there. Still wish my humble blog be honored by a guest post from you someday 🙂

  5. Paola Bortolani Avatar
    Paola Bortolani

    Thank you. Is it free? How many photos am I allowed to upload?

    Reply
    1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
      Mohamad Al Karbi

      You’re most welcome, Paola. Hmm, it’s not free. The cheapest plan is $55 / year. But it’s unlimited… I don’t think normal user will need more…. The following referral link will offer you 20% discount if you like to subscribe plus a trial period: https://secure.smugmug.com/signup?Coupon=f8m4H5

      Reply
      1. Paola Bortolani Avatar
        Paola Bortolani

        thank you!

  6. authorstephanieparkermckean Avatar
    authorstephanieparkermckean

    Thanks for the advice, because I want nothing to do with Google due to their politics.

    Reply
    1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
      Mohamad Al Karbi

      Welcome on board, Stephanie.
      Unfortunately, those big companies are abusing our information so it’s better not keep all our eggs in one basket.

      Reply
  7. sherazade Avatar
    sherazade

    Grazie molte per il suggerimento sono Molto pigra ma comunque farò uno prova e visiterò il sito per ora vado avanti con Flickr!

    Ciao da Roma
    Shera

    Reply
    1. Mohamad Al Karbi Avatar
      Mohamad Al Karbi

      Grazie mille, Sherazade. Flickr isn’t bad at all. Flickr and SmugMug are the same company. Hope you all safe in Italia

      Reply
      1. sherazade Avatar
        sherazade

        Safety is a too big word: economically will be very hard. Tks 🌺🌻🌼

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Mohamad Al Karbi

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading