I’m switching to Gmail. After some hesitation, I noticed a few things that are advantageous about Gmail’s service:
- POP3 and mail forwarding are available
- Gmail blocks spam A LOT more effectively than my webhost’s spamblocker… instead of 90% junk mail, I get 90% email.
- The interface in Gmail is very intelligent in terms of tracking “conversations” and allows me to handle previously difficult-to-read email correspondence on mailing lists very easy — something that is importance since I’ve decided to resubscribe to the Culture SF emailing list.
- There’s a ridiculous amount of storage available, and it doesn’t infringe on the webspace I have available for my site, the way my webmail account does.
So while it’ll look like you’re getting email from the address that’s provided via my service provider, in fact, I’ll be using Gmail to send it via that address. This means it’s no change to those of you who email me regularly.
This is cool because, of course, if Gmail ever switches to a paid service, most people won’t notice the difference as I switch back to my domain-provided webmail system. Nice. But really, living without spam, and with my email more filterable and organizable, it’s good. I prefer it.