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Microsoft to Sell Outlook Subscription Service
An anonymous contributor writes "Boston.com is reporting that Microsoft will begin selling Outlook as a subscription service to compete with add-on services provided by Yahoo and Google. 'The new service, which costs $59.95 per year, will let people organize e-mail, contact lists and calendars in their online Hotmail accounts using the Microsoft Outlook program most often found on businesses' desktop computers.' I can't see many users paying for this service. Most Hotmail users use it because it is free, or they don't know about the alternatives. Paying for access via Outlook doesn't seem to fit with that market segment."
Sounds like .Mac.
Which is to say, not as crazy as it seems on the surface. If people really like the MS application, and like being able to access it anywhere, they're liable to pay.
Big if, though.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
You want to know something ironic? I use GMail and I think it rocks, especially since it's free (for now). I've had a free yahoo account for ages so a lot of people still send mail there. I never considered paying for yahoo until GMail came along, now I am thinking about it. Why? So I can automatically forward my email to GMail. I have already set up my regular pop email accounts to forward to GMail.
The one big thing GMail has (aside from labels, nice interface, etc.) is the notifier. The main reason I would want POP acces is simply to always know when I have email without having to open a browser. I don't understand why the other email services don't do this. The "hacked" solutions don't count, and Outlook/Hotmail is a pain. It is so simple and it still gets people to visit the web page to view their email (i.e. ads).
!hoD