Well, there goes hotmail.

[DungeonmasterCal]

Shoot...guess I should read the whole thread a little closer from now on...I'm SOOOO not a morning person. Glad you got your files back.

As far as Gmail is concerned, it has thus far been one of the best freemail accounts I've ever had. It's flexible, easy to use, and the ads that pop up on the right hand of the screen featuring "relevant" links pertaining to things found in the emails haven't been a bother (and sometimes they've been downright funny). As far as other services, they are planning on beta-testing a chat service soon, I believe.

Google is a publicly traded company, and before that of course a privately held one. How they make their money is still something of a mystery to me; all I know is it's not being vacuumed out of my bank account, and that's all that matters to me.

 

[der_kluge]

I abandoned my hotmail account to SPAM a long time ago.

I love gmail.

 

[reveal]

It fixed itself. It was just a very unnerving glitch, I guess.

I don't trust GMail. In fact, the 'stock' of Google worries me. I mean, they only really offer web-searching, and I don't see them talking about expanding into new areas, or offering new services. How do they make money to make their stock worth anything? It's far too speculative for me to want to entrust my email to them.

Actually, Google does a lot more than just being a search engine on the Internet.

http://www.google.com/services/
http://labs.google.com/
http://answers.google.com/answers/

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I abandoned my hotmail account to SPAM a long time ago.

I love gmail.

Amen to that... I abslutely adore my gmail account and have-- in the past 2 months--completely abandoned essentially all other forms of my email to use it exclusively...

I guess you could say I'm having a love affair with my gmail account... as sad as that is.

RW, if you would open up your heart to gmail, I have an invitation to join left and I would gladly let you have it...

 

[Mercule]

I had a Hotmail account before MS bought them and for a while after, too. I abondoned it when my blacklisted spam address list filled up because there was no other spam-killer feature. I can't abide a 1:10 signal:noise ratio. If I could get my acount back, I might try it again, because I didn't submit any real info and it isn't linked to a full Passport account (there is no way I'm using Passport).

I've used Yahoo! mail for quite a few years, now. I don't like their search engine or their drill-down categories, but the portal page is nice. The actual email has great spam filtering -- I really don't have to do anything to dodge spam. Decent interface, too. Oh, and I can pull my home POP3 mail in, too.

I've been trying out Gmail for a couple of months. Not bad. The threading is interesting. I haven't made much use of the search function, but I've started archiving instead of pitching things. I don't like the fact that (if I understand correctly) Google keeps your deleted mail even after you empty your trash. But, since I really only use webmail for mailing lists or potential spamming sign-ups, it's not like I've got too private of info there.

 

[RangerWickett]

You don't trust it? What does that mean? Do you trust them less than Microsoft?

As a business, I can see what Microsoft makes. I trust a company that actually has something they sell. And sure, I can see the service Google offers, but lots of websites offer searches, and they don't make me pay for it. Plus, with the almost cult-like parallel of "Come on and join GMail, I have an invite left" (and they always have an invite left), it just makes my gut instinct alarm signals go off.

I just watched an old episode of Farscape last night, in which there's this worker planet where the people are hopped up on drugs all the time. Every evening they say, "We're going to go out and party, because tomorrow is a rest day." Then the next day they're out farming again. I feel Google works the same way. Google's mail service is like the pod people of the internet.

And, as much as I like Queen Dopplepopolis, I can't trust an invitation to become a pod person from a doppelganger. *grin*

 

[reveal]

http://www.google.com/appliance/

If it's tangibility you're looking for, Google makes a box that can be put on to your exsisting network. It is used to search for information within your network; documents, directories, etc.

Google's search engine IS its product. Its algorithm allows it to index and search faster than anything else out there. Heck, Yahoo! used to use it before they realized Google was becoming a threat to them.

There are more applications for searching than simply the web. Large networks currently have thousands, if not millions, of records in their databases, think hospitals or large universities, and need a quick, reliable method of searching said information. That is what Google does for them.

And both Apple and Microsoft have some sort of cult following. Trust me, the evangelists for both sides are out in full force at certain conventions. That doesn't turn me off from using either.

 

[coyote6]

And sure, I can see the service Google offers, but lots of websites offer searches, and they don't make me pay for it.

You pay for Google searches? Moreover, you have to pay for Google?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

And, as much as I like Queen Dopplepopolis, I can't trust an invitation to become a pod person from a doppelganger. *grin*

How about from the Night Watch?

And I'm going to echo coyote6...you PAY for Google?!

 

[Belen]

Big Brother Gmail

I hope all of you who signed up for gmail read that contract. Gmail has some very worrying aspects including:

Automated searching of your personal mail to match you to a product and provide advertising.

Google retains the right to read your personal e-mail and may report suspicious activity to the government via the Patriot Act.

Google retains all your personal mail even should you delete your account, they get to keep your private e-mail for as long as they want to keep it on the hard drive.

Fun, right?