What makes Gmail stand out from other Email services?

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In summary, the conversation revolved around the use of Gmail and whether or not the speakers were switching email services. Some expressed interest in Gmail, but were hesitant to switch due to the potential hassle of transferring old emails and informing contacts of a new email address. However, others praised Gmail for its labeling system and large storage space. The conversation also touched on the issue of privacy with Gmail and its spam filtering capabilities. Overall, the speakers seemed impressed with Gmail's features and benefits.
  • #1
Dagenais
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So, do any of you have Gmail? I could have gotten an account but decided to stick with Fastmail since there service was great, I have more than enough memory and it is fast. :biggrin:

Are any of you switching Email services? What do you think of Gmail?
 
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  • #2
I'm thinking of switching when it comes out of the preview, but I'm not sure. Would have to download all those old emails from other accounts that I want to keep, and such, and tell everyone the new address and sheesh! That's a lot of work. :-p

But if I weren't so set in my ways, I'd certainly switch, I think it's a great idea.
 
  • #3
I love it.. Here is a post I wrote about it on another forum:

Cusser, aye, that is what I had in mind. I left a suggestion to Google that they should have an option that can be passed to the gmail URL that gets an email ready to compose. The way I see it, if you had the mailto: tag over-rode to redirect to

http://gmail.google.com/gmail?composeto=%whoever%?subject=%whatever% [Broken]

With the whoever and whatever being the parts that are in the mailto tag, gmail could load this, and if it detected that you weren't logged in, it could ask you to log in, then redirect to the above url. I've seen tons of web sites do that, where they remember where you were trying to go but make you login first.

And regarding privacy issues with gmail, etc, I've been using it for a few weeks now. I have almost 10 megs of emails in my gmail account. That is a lot of space I'm using already. They have a very interesting labeling system for sorting e-mails. I am loving it. I used outlook express prior to this (don't kill me, it was before I knew of Thunderbird), and I had a huge, messy inbox. With gmail, I've taken advantage of their labeling system and I have a few labels that I've applied to the emails I want, and then I can just archive all my emails and when I click on the label I want it pulls them up, but they don't sit there and clutter my inbox.

Let me explain what I mean. On the left side of the menu you have "Inbox, Starred, Sent Mail, All Mail, Spam, Trash" (these are arranged vertically.) Then below that you have the box with your labels, which are a few text sizes smaller, and are very unobtrusive, and you can "hide" the label box too. Your inbox obviously has whatever is new and what you haven't moved around. Next is the starred folder. Any email you keep anywhere you can mark with a star, and put it anywhere, and if you click the starred folder it pulls up all the ones you've marked as such. Sent mail is obvious, and next is all mail. All mail has all the mail you've sent, received, etc. It has all the starred messages, all the messages with labels on them, everything. Then you have spam and trash. Gmail has a spam catcher, and I haven't received ONE PIECE OF SPAM in the few weeks I've been on gmail. The trash can is for if you want to delete email, and you can empty the trash or it automatically empties it every once in a while. There is no real point in trashing emails unless you just want to get rid of some **** or some large files later on when you want to clean up some space (but you have a gig to play with..).

The labels are great. The way they work is you create a label, which is basically a key that gmail uses to sort the mail. For instance, my sister sent me a bunch of pictures from our trip to New York, so I created a label called "Pictures" and I applied that label to all the pictures from the trip (I emailed them to myself in order to store them here). I then archived all the New York trip pictures, so that they are no longer in my inbox. As far as I'm concerned, they are gone (archiving them puts them in the "All Mail" folder, which you don't normally open and view). But, I have the box that has my labels in it below the list of Inbox, etc. I see the label that says "Pictures", so I click on that label and then it loads up all the emails that are tagged with the label "Pictures" and instantly all of my New York pictures are available.

At first, this seems no more useful than a separate folder like in a normal email program, but it is more advanced. The labels can be deleted without deleting the messages. So if I no longer care to cull out all of my emails that are labelled with a name I created, I can just delete the label without affecting my email storage. Alternativly, say I had a picture of New York, but in the picture it was something funny, and I wanted to have it in a label (basically a folder) that was my collection of funny pictures that I think are clever and want to keep around. I can take my New York picture that is lablled "Pictures" and add the label "Funny Stuff" or whatever to it. The thing is you can have multiple labels per email. So now when I sort by pictures I get the picture, and when I sort by funny stuff I get the picture. You see where this is heading? It creates a way to have a single email be stored multiple ways if it is something you want to keep around. The labeling system is flexible and interesting. It's neat because I enjoy keeping my stuff neat and organized, and everything is very flexible, and if I have a hard drive crash I won't lose it all. It is there basically forever.

Regarding email attachments, there is a maximum size of 10 megs, so that means you can't liike e-mail DVD rips or whatever, but you could email .mp3s. They do not allow .exe attachments because of the security risk potential. So zip up those executables.

Oh, and I don't know if yall read or not, but they have a way of showing messages called threading or whatever. Basically, you read your emails kinda like in a message board. I mean, emails that are with the same subject lines. Like if I send my professor a message, my emaill is in the sent items folder. When my prof replies, in the inbox it has his name, the email subject, etc, but by his name it may say Mark (2). The two means there are two emails there (mine and his). When I click the email, it loads my old one on top, and his new one below. But they are "stacked" so that the newer one is on top, and at the bottom. You don't have to scroll though because it keeps my message minimized, which is veiwable with a single click or keyboard shortcut (these are great, I love them! Just hit "C" to compose a email). Google also hides the quoted text, which is viewable with a click, because the quoted text is what I've sent previously which is in an email deeper in the stack. It's a very neat way to send emails, and it is good for grouping, etc.

And lastly, with the ads and privacy concerns. Honestly, it seems like a lot of the emails that I receive, they don't even show ads. Like I have a 5 message email thread with one of my professors and there isn't a single ad on it. But then again I have some emails from friends and it puts the ads on the side. The ads are, of course, based off of keywords from the email you are reading. They are on the right side of the screen and in a small, unobtrusive font and format. Honestly, to be totally honest, I don't even notice the ads. I keep reading about the ads and I have to go back and look for them to see what they look like. They just aren't in the way or annoying or anything. I'd much rather Google's format of ads than any other ad agencies format. Google's just is not annoying. I don't worry at all about Google scanning the email for keywords for ads. It's not like they archive the keywords and associate them with me.

Besides, when you create a google gmail account they don't ask you for *ANY* personal information. They ask a first and last name, and you can put whatever you want. They ask a password, and a password retrieval question. THAT IS IT! It is totally private. So if you are doing some dumb **** anyway and are scared of google catching you or whatever, they won't have any personal info on you at all (not that you wouldn't fake it anyway). The scanning email, etc ,it just isnt' a problem. They tell you up front that they show ads, and that is it. No problems.

Oh, and did I mention that you have access to the google search engine to search through your email? Badass

Google gmail is top notch, it works fast, and it has a very intuitive, useful interface. There isn't bull**** unecessary graphics, load times, or ugly stuff. It's all quick and easy.
 
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What is Gmail and how does it work?

Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. It allows users to send, receive, and organize emails, as well as access other Google services such as Google Drive and Google Calendar. Gmail works by storing emails on Google's servers and allowing users to access them through a web browser or through third-party email clients using the POP or IMAP protocols.

Is Gmail a secure email service?

Yes, Gmail is considered to be a secure email service. It uses encryption to protect emails and attachments while they are being sent and received, and also has various security features such as two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access to accounts. However, it is always important to be cautious when sharing sensitive information over email.

Can I access Gmail on my mobile device?

Yes, Gmail can be accessed on both iOS and Android devices through the Gmail app or through the device's native mail app. The app allows users to send and receive emails, manage their inbox, and access other Gmail features such as labels and filters.

What are some unique features of Gmail?

Gmail has several unique features that make it stand out from other email services. These include a powerful spam filter, the ability to undo sent emails, email scheduling, and a conversation view that groups related emails together for easier organization and navigation. Gmail also offers a large storage capacity and integrates with other Google services.

What are your personal opinions on using Gmail?

As a scientist, I appreciate the convenience and reliability of using Gmail for my professional emails. Its features and integration with other Google services make it a valuable tool for organizing and managing my work. However, I also acknowledge the importance of privacy and make sure to use strong passwords and enable security features to protect my account. Overall, I find Gmail to be a highly efficient and user-friendly email service.

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