Guh-mayl!
So after a month or so of being very stingy with the Gmail invites, Google can’t seem to give enough away. I now have 6, and every time I use one it’s instantly replaced. On the off chance that someone reads this blog, hasn’t received one already, and would like one, just let me know. Help is on the way! (at least if your biggest problem is unthreaded email conversations).
evan :: Sep.08.2004 :: Notices :: 7 Comments »
I can’t really use gmail, b-cos I have this virus on my pc such that every time I run a search, this weird window pops up w/ annoying suggestions, so since gmail is searched based, then well it’s too frustrating to use.
But it looks like it’s cool for everyone else!!
best,
eocs
Why is everyone getting Gmail invites but me?
Hey,
I am the webmaster at lawschoolnumbers.com and ran across one of your blog entries that references the site.
http://www.horseforce.net/archives/000183.html
I really like one of your quotes and want to ask you a question, but I couldn’t find any contact information. Could you drop me line? Justin at lsn
-Justin
Hey
If you still have invites to spare? I would like one. What do i have to do?
cheers
evan et al., what’s your take on the gmail privacy issue? i now have gmail and am wondering if i rushed into it too quickly.
I’m not overly concerned with the Gmail privacy issues; I think whenever you are using a free service on someone else’s servers your expectation of privacy has to be pretty low. That said, I’m satisified with Google’s explanation that no humans read the mail and their promise “not to be evil”. What does worry me a bit is this:
“Because we keep back-up copies of data for the purposes of recovery from errors or system failure, residual copies of email may remain on our systems for some time, even after you have deleted messages from your mailbox or after the termination of your account. Google employees do not access the content of any mailboxes unless…required by law, to maintain our system, or to protect Google or the public.” Yes, the notion of Google/public protection is extremely vague, but the worst part about this is the entirely reasonable assertion that they will look at your mailbox if required by law, because the law now includes the most intrusive provisions of the DMCA and the PATRIOT Act. Unfortunately, that means they can get right at my private email as well, so it’s no worse to be using Gmail.
Also, I’m definitely beginning to wonder how I ever lived without threading in my email. 20 emails spread over a day with the subject “RE: hi!” is just so…wrong.
Makes sense. At http://www.templetons.com/brad/gmail.html you can find a guy who seems to know what he’s talking about discussing some of the things you raised. He also concludes that there’s some scary stuff going on, but most of what he calls the ‘rational’ fears can also be tied to other e-mail providers.
And you’re right on about the genius of threading. It reflects well upon the maxim that the best ideas are often the simplest. It removes a huge-ass annoyance. For that alone I’m almost ready to build a little gmail shrine in my room. If it takes 10 minutes to go through all the “Re:(no subject)”s in a day, I can take one minute to offer up some incense, right?