Opinions on gmail?

[MonsterMash]

I want to write a sci-fi novel where google has taken over the world; it just makes so much sense to me.

Not sci-fi, but fact and I for one welcome our new google overlords!


The reason that I don't use google search while signed in to gmail is to try and reduce how much information they hold about me and what I look for.

 

[Bront]

I've been using GMail for nearly a year now, and it's the best free email service I've ever used. Now, in response to your questions about it:

Pros: Lots of storage space, a big list of useful features, auto-saves drafts of emails so that you won't have to re-type a long email if your computer suddenly crashes. GMail is also a part of Google's personalized desktop (my browser home page features Google's search engine, links to the 5 most recent messages in my GMail inbox, the quote of the day, the word of the day, and the 3-day weather forcast for my area).

Cons: The rather unique interface might confuse new users or people who don't have much experience with computers/internet.

Reliable: GMail is very rarely down, and when it does go down it is usually fixed quite quickly.

Ad Intrusive: GMail does have ads, but they aren't very intrusive at all. I've been using GMail for so long that I hardly even notice them anymore.

I agree and all of this is dead on, though i've not used Google Desktop.

I like it, and use it for my free e-mail service when i don't want to use my personal one (And my comcast one is junk, too much spam). It sorts all my enworld e-mail, makes it easier to keep track of by catagorizing and lumping them into a thread like format, and even has email address type ahead, and a good contact collector. It will also sort out your most often e-mailed contacts (I think top 30), so if you write a new e-mail, you can always pull them up quickly.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

I tend to log out of my gmail account when I'm going to use Google searches though.

Howcome?

 

[Asmor]

I can't wait until I can go to Google's web site and type in "Where did I leave my damn car keys?" or "What should I get my sister for Christmas?" and get a relevant answer.

There's actually an amusing greasemonkey script (greasemonkey being a plugin for firefox that allows you to add scripts for certain websites) where you start a query on google by typing a slash, and then you type in whatever it is you want to search for, but instead of showing what you're actually typing each keystroke appears to be leading up to "What is it I am thinking of?" Then when you're done typing your real query, you type another slash, and finish the already-made sentence as appropriate. To people watching over your shoulder, it seems as if you just asked google what you were thinking, and it knew!

EDIT: Just to keep it on topic, I love gmail. Threaded discussions and auto-hiding of quotes are a godsend, particularly if you're part of active listservs or something like LiveJournal, where you might get dozens of individual but related emails each day.

 

[Staffan]

I lacks a preview mode, as far as I can tell. And it's spam filtering is a little TOO agressive.

Preview? Not sure what you mean by that. You either send email as plain text (the way all right-thinking people do - HTML or "rich text" does NOT belong in email), or, if you really have to, you can use "rich text" which gets you to a WYSIWYG editor.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

I've been using GMail for nearly a year now, and it's the best free email service I've ever used. Now, in response to your questions about it:

Pros: Lots of storage space, a big list of useful features, auto-saves drafts of emails so that you won't have to re-type a long email if your computer suddenly crashes. GMail is also a part of Google's personalized desktop (my browser home page features Google's search engine, links to the 5 most recent messages in my GMail inbox, the quote of the day, the word of the day, and the 3-day weather forcast for my area).

Cons: The rather unique interface might confuse new users or people who don't have much experience with computers/internet.

Reliable: GMail is very rarely down, and when it does go down it is usually fixed quite quickly.

Ad Intrusive: GMail does have ads, but they aren't very intrusive at all. I've been using GMail for so long that I hardly even notice them anymore.

This is pretty much my experience as well. But what is this about ads? i have never seen an ad in my gmail account?

 

[Asmor]

This is pretty much my experience as well. But what is this about ads? i have never seen an ad in my gmail account?

Open up any message. They're on the right side, below the New Window/Expand All/Print links. With the placement and coloration, they just sorta blend into the page and you don't even notice them.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I like my gmail account. I'm a pack rat. I can't get rid of anything, and gmail lets me keep 'em all. I've been using it for job hunting and it really really works better than hotmail. For one, the multiple labels that emails can belong to allows me to more easily cross reference. I can also use it with Thunderbird, which hotmail won't let me do.

Open up any message. They're on the right side, below the New Window/Expand All/Print links. With the placement and coloration, they just sorta blend into the page and you don't even notice them.

Wow, I've been using Gmail for over a year now and I have never noticed this. I don't see how anyone can consider those intrusive.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

bump

Why should one log out before searching?

 

[Dimwhit]

bump

Why should one log out before searching?

I'm not sure there's a reason. The logic is probably that, while logged in, google can track your search history and peg it to a specific account. I'm not sure they actually do that, though I suppose it's possible.