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Gmail Goes Public

Posted by Zonk on from the come-and-get-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google has apparently given the green light for Google's e-mail (Gmail) to be open to the general public." From the registration page: "As we make room for more Gmail users, we want to first extend invitations to Google users. We're still working to make Gmail better, so for now, we're just inviting a small number at random. Looks like that's you! We're really excited to share Gmail with you and we hope you like it." Observed at the P-I Buzzworthy Blog as well.

4 of 527 comments (clear)

  1. I can't even by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    people to take my gmail invites any more. I think it's a little late to open it to the public-- everybody already has an account.

    --
    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    1. Re:I can't even by jp10558 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know - I like the lack of ads. I like the speed of Eudora on messages on my local machine. I like being able to look through messages and not have to be online. I like the lack of "tags". I like unlimited attachment size. I like GPG plugins.

      I like e-mail being separate from websites. I like not having my mail processed to show me ads.(wait I already said that didn't I?)

      Oh, wait - I like not getting spam from those people who try every combination of @gmail, @yahoo etc....

      And, I like VNC through Java applet for checking my mail or anything elsewhere! Just me though, I like taking the whole interface if I can(which I can do via broadband).

      I also like not being more beholden to big companies for my communication.

      --
      Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3
  2. Re:Google: Fix the top post reply method by jonadab · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > Bottom posting is for grizzled usenet hippies.

    Bottom-posting (quoting the whole message and then putting your reply at the bottom) and top-posting (quoting the whole original message below your reply) are both cretinous and bad. The correct way to quote is interleaved, i.e., you quote a relevant excerpt, reply to it, then if necessary quote another relevant excerpt, reply to it, and so forth.

    Gnus gets this right: it quotes the whole message (depending on how you have it set up) (except the signature (if it can tell where the signature starts)), but if you go to any point in the message and start typing, it breaks there and rewraps the quoted portions above and below, and your reply gets inserted at the proper place, unquoted, as a separate paragraph. Any parts of the quoted message you don't need to reply to, you're supposed to delete before sending. Gnus warns you if you try to send a message that's mostly quoted material and very little original response (though it'll let you do it if you insist).

    But I don't suppose it's reasonable to hold a webmail interface to the standard of functionality set by Gnus.

    --
    Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
  3. Re:why not sooner? by learn+fast · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Another post from someone who's never taken a MARKETING class.

    This has nothing to do with server space. Gmail would never be as popular as it is today if they hadn't used their ingenious "give these codes to all your friends!!! -- or else you can't get in" promotion. This has nothing to do with a beta stage it's a marketing promotion. Sometimes, making your product artificially scarce makes people want it more, and I for one am once again awed by Google's awesome duality of marketing and technical brilliance.