Google ecosystem vs Microsoft ecosystem vs Apple echo system vs mixed. Why it’s important and which one are you?
Level: Easy
An ecosystem, in the context of the digital world and specifically for SoF, is a number of integrated services (usually cloud-based) that aim to provide the “necessities” of family daily life such as email, document management, and family management. Deciding on an ecosystem has the benefit of simplifying your family's Digital Intelligence (DQ) and provides a more consistent, overall seamless experience for family members, and can save you money in the long run. There are three main ecosystems being:
Each has there own set of services and cloud/account-related services which make it easier to manage your digital family. There are two parts to defining your ecosystem:
Default for essentials
Default ecosystem for services and products
The outcome may result in the ecosystem for essentials and the ecosystem for services and products being the same or different. Ideally, the outcome will result in the same ecosystem for both as this will ensure a simple, seamless experience.
In this post, I explain what the essentials are and get you to start thinking about what might be the right ecosystem for your family. In a follow up post, I will cover the default ecosystem for services and products.
Deciding which ecosystem for essentials
Each of the main players (Google, Microsoft, Apple) provides ecosystem essentials such as:
Mail
Contacts
Calenders
Notes
Reminders
Family Sharing
You can use the following matrix to decide on which ecosystem might be best suited for your family and take into consideration:
The majority of types of phones/tablets/computers in the household
As a parent what is your preferred provider (Google, Microsoft, Apple)
The majority of email addresses (and the provider) currently being used in the family currently
Note: The default ecosystem should ideally be the same for the entire family
| Phones and Tablets (Majority) | Computers (Majority) | Ecosystem |
|---|---|---|
| Android Phones and Tablets | Windows computers | * Windows Ecosystem * Microsoft Accounts |
| Android Phones and Tablets | Apple computers | * Mixed Ecosystem * Apple ID’s and * Windows Accounts or Google Accounts |
| Android Phones and Tablets | Chromebook computers | * Google Ecosystem * Google Accounts |
| iPhones and iPads | Chromebook computers | Mixed Ecosystem * Apple ID’s and * Google Accounts |
| iPhones and iPads | Apple computers | Apple Ecosystem * Apple ID’s |
| iPhones and iPads | Windows Computers | Mixed Ecosystem * Apple ID’s and * Windows Accounts |
The above is based on the majority of phones/tablets/computers. For those houses which have more numerous number of device types it is not recommended to try to support all of them to avoid complexity.
If this is the case, it is recommended to not include those phones/tablets/computers and if possible eventually replace it with one the similar what is the majority being used.