I got a Gmail account

[giza]

Thanks to an invite code given to me by a co-worker, I now have a Gmail account. My e-mail address there is doug.muth(AT)gmail(DOT)com. I'll be checking the e-mail account rather frequently, since it's web-based and easy to use.

And, for those of you who don't know, Gmail is Google's version of e-mail. They did an outstanding job on it, and here is a brief list of things that I think make it very cool:

- 1 Gigabyte of storage for e-mails.

- A very nice Javascript interface. For example, when viewing an e-mail, you can click on a link to view additional details about it. This does not result in loading of a new page, but rather just un-hiding a field of HTML at the top of the e-mail. This makes it behave more like a desktop app.

- The design of the pages is laid out very well. Clicking a link to load another section causes the general navigation elements to remain exactly the same, which also gives the appearance of a desktop app.

- The pages have the same minimalist design as the rest of Google. I get fairly good response times even over my dialup connection at home.

- Advertising is shown on the right of every e-mail that is displayed. It is unobtrusive, and based on the content of the e-mail. I hardly notice it at all, but when I do look at it, I usually find stuff that interests me.

- You can use Google's search capabilities to search through your e-mails. ALL of them.

- Mailing list traffic is tracked as "conversations". There's more Javascript goodness for minimizing the messages that you already read, and their software will filter out quoted text in the replies (but also available via Javascript)

- Hot keys. Typing "c" composes a new message, "o" opens a message, and "j" and "k" can be used to navigate through your messages. Just like an app running on your machine!


In short, I think Gmail is a real winner. Google is good at changing the playing field with their technology, and this is going to make it happen again. So find a friend with an invite code (No, I don't have any) and get onto Gmail!

Comments

[gatcat.livejournal.com]

It is unobtrusive, and based on the content of the e-mail.

Getting a lot of ads for Yiffy Lube lately, are you?

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

Before you get too excited, you might want to read this article about Google's possible (mis)uses of the data it gleans from your email.

It's written by Annalee Newitz, who by pure coincidence also wrote this article about furry 4-1/2 years ago, starring me Me MEEEEE!

[giza.livejournal.com]

Here's a quote from that article:

>and since IP addresses are often traceable to real-world addresses, the anti-gay
>group could possibly use targeted Gmail ads to compile a hit list of gay people,
>complete with directions to their targets' homes

I gotta call bullshit on that in particular. I'm sure you'll agree with me that 90% of the time, all IPs are good for is figuring out what geographical area that the person lives in. (If you could get physical addresses from IPs, there would be a lot less spammers by now :-) Either the reporter was mislead, or they are intentionally trying to scaremonger people.

Regarding Gmail's privacy policy (http://www.google.com/gmail/help/privacy.html), they are pretty explicit when they tell what they will/won't do with your e-mail. They say that their ad-serving technology ensures that no human sees your e-mail, and from a programming standpoint, that seems pretty straightforward to me.

My 2 tuna.

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

I think the example is silly: Gay bashers simply aren't that motivated anymore. :-P

But as for IP addresses being traceable to real-world addresses... I'd say that's increasingly true. O.K., maybe the IP address alone won't give you someone's living address. But that together with an email address and you're golden. Data compilation is big business, and they've gotten very, very good at it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if some companies already corroborate IP addresses (where static) to physical addresses, etc.

[delphi-of-clf.livejournal.com]

...I was told Gmail was an April fools prank. How do we get accounts?

[giza.livejournal.com]

It's quite real.

Someone with an account has to send you an invite. And no, I don't have any invite codes (yet).

[delphi-of-clf.livejournal.com]

I'll just have to post around and see who's got an account then ._. Thanks for the quick reply though.