[consultant23522]

Is this not the case with all three big players in the smartphone market? I don't have an iphone but my ipod sure seems useless without an account with Apple. It's the same account I use for itunes, apps on my macbook pro, and their developer network. I presume MSFT has a similar situation with a live account. People are just upset because their Google account happens to have some social features to it. I've personally never seen anything force me to post anything on G+, it just sort of comes with my gmail account. It's completely non-intrusive. The fact that it's associated with a social network I don't use is inconsequential. It's also associated with their news and finance products which I don't use. The only nuisance that has ever come up is when some app wants to authenticate with google it wants to know all about my circles or whatever. This is pretty much the exact same behavior as what comes with facebook authentication except with G+ circles I can tell it not to share all my circles.

[BrainInAJar]

> People are just upset because their Google account happens to have some social features to it.

And that isn't worrying to you? People can add you to their G+ circles and there's no way to stay hidden. So Google gets to collect all the information about people you associate with in order to sell your personal info better (to the NSA, among others)

[dspillett]

If it worried me particularly I'd simply not have a Google device. If a distrust in a G+ account was enough to put me off then letting their code handle my phone and tablet in general would be a no-no for me too.

I'm under no illusions that there is much I can do to stop Google tracking me, occasionally pushing stuff at me addverts and so forth), and trying to "lock me in" where possible, as I use my stock Android devices. I'm sure both MS and Apple either d the same sort of thing or will as soon as opportunity presents itself.

I'm not saying it is right of course, just that if it is a particular problem for you then it should inform your decisions before buying a device. Also I suspect buying and returning devices as a form of protest is not seen the same on relevant internal reports, and is likely to inconvenience your retailer more than the manufacturer, so if you wish to protest the behaviour you will find simply not buying to be more effective.

[consultant23522]

No, people could always have said things about me and I'd have no way of stopping them.