Forbes Reviews Google's Gmail [updated]

An anonymous reader submits "Forbes.com has what looks to be the first hands-on review of Google's forthcoming Gmail service. Aside from the 1-gigabyte storage, the searching features sound pretty useful for what the writer calls 'email packrats' which I think fits me pretty well. But I can't say I agree with the writer's opinion that privacy fears, as discussed this Slashdot thread, about the Gmail service are 'overblown.' Still and all, I'm curious to try it myself and see what I think." Update: 04/13 00:55 GMT by T : notEA writes "A California state senator is drafting legislation to block Google from releasing Gmail. Seems kind of silly, since all anti-spam filters read your messages anyway."

Comments

1GB email isn't that unique

[ron_ivi]

These guys also offer 1GB email accounts with less privacy concerns, and no strings attached

I think they started doing it when they saw the demand after the early Apr google announcement and people thought it was an april fools joke.

Disk space is so cheap this isn't an amazing size -- I get 10GB (email+web hosting) for $10/month.

Re:1GB email isn't that unique

[shepd]

160 GB drives (currently the best bang for the buck) sell for less than $130 CDN wholesale. OEM versions (yes, large customers can make deals with HDD manufactures to get drives without a brand name) often wholesale for 10 - 30% less than that.

Just to let you know... ;-)

Re:And,

[fiftyfly]

What makes people think that Hotmail, Yahoo, and other free-mail providers don't intentionally or accidentally archive, parse, or otherwise "invade" their users' privacy to some degree?

Well perusing the MSN EULA, which one is required to agree to before activating a hotmail account:

6. MATERIALS YOU POST OR PROVIDE; COMMUNICATIONS MONITORING For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a "Submission"), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission. Microsoft may remove your Submission at any time. For each Submission, you represent that you have all rights necessary for you to make the grants in this section. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Microsoft may monitor your e-mail, or other electronic communications and may disclose such information in the event it has a good faith reason to believe it is necessary for purposes of ensuring your compliance with this Agreement, and protecting the rights, property, and interests of the Microsoft Parties or any customer of a Microsoft Party.

Given such boilerplate as 'standard' I'm sure google could do all kinds of nifty automated things with your textstream while managing to be at least relatively 'not evil'