How to Switch to Gmail and Why You Would Want To
26th of March, 2010
First, I don’t work for Google and don’t know anybody who works for Google. I also don’t own any stock (you need money to make money). I’m posting this because I’ve been using Google’s various apps and services for the last few years and have rarely had a problem.
Now that I’m here typing this up, I can’t actually think of any specific instance of a Google product screwing up and causing me problems. There have been features I’ve wanted that weren’t implemented yet, but I can’t remember anything ever being actually broken. Huh.
why switch
You already have an email address, maybe through AOL or your ISP. If you use Charter, your email address is something likeyou@charter.net; there’s nothing wrong with this address, but if you stop using Charter because they’re a horrible ISP or because you move away, your address and archived emails are gone.
Alternately, perhaps you’ve got something heroically stupid which you set up eight years ago and now kind of regret. microbust_2002@hotmail.com or hotlilcherybomb27@aim.com for instance. Why did you do that? And how does it feel to give those email addresses out to people in class or at work? Would you put them on a resumé? No.
So you want a nice, simple, straightforward address. I am creigpsherburne (at) gmail (dot) com. 1 You could have one very similar. It’s resumé-safe (not embarrassing to give to coworkers or that good looking guy/girl, either) and easy to remember. If you move away or stop using your current ISP, you still have your email address.
Other cool advantages to using Gmail include the fast, single-step web-interface. Having recently helped a friend with a Yahoo! email address, I can tell you the differences between the two are staggering. Yahoo!’s is full of distractions, makes horrible use of space, and is slow. 2
Further, Gmail plays well with Mozilla Thunderbird, OS X Mail, iPhones, Android (obviously), and even your dumb Nokia or Samsung (or whatever) flip phone: download the your crappy phone app for free, enter your username and password, enjoy. 3
fringe benefits
Switching to Gmail also gives you free access to Google Docs, an online office suite; the ability to set up a Blogger account, or a template based Google Site; Google Calendar (which works fantastic with an iPhone and OS X iCal). Oh, and the web-interface for Gmail also allows you to log into AIM chat automatically.
your old email
So you’ve got a shiny new email address and all the coolness that goes with it. What about the old address? It’s hard to notify everyone. I suggest setting up forwarding. Most email providers have some kind of filtration system set up; you simply tell it to send all email to your new email address. This means that email sent to microbust_2002@hotmail.com will show up in your new firstlast@gmail.com inbox; when you reply, your friends will automatically get the new address. It might be a good idea to let them know about the change anyway, but forwards will help catch errors.
Yahoo! requires you to pay them for the privilege of setting up forwards (ironic, since you’d be doing this so as to not use their service), and others might as well. For those, I’d set up a vacation response. A vacation response sends a reply to anybody emailing you. Just make the response say something like, “I switched email addresses, please resend your email to the new one and update your address book.”
While they’ll both get the job done pretty well, setting up the forward is the better choice.
and so
I’m not saying Gmail is perfect, it’s not. There are plenty of stupid little UI things that could be better. But it’s got so many good features and in general is so easy to use, that it’s not a stretch to forgive the dumb little things they got wrong (or just not quite right).
Switching is pretty scary. But it really is easy and with forwarding, the transition is pretty seamless.I feel the benefits far outweigh the half-hour it’ll take to set up the new account, the forwarding on the old account, and to download the your crappy phone app. You’ll have Google-class spam filtering, a fast web interface with all the features you could hope for, freedom to use an actual mail client on your computer, and the tons of cool extras your account will give you access to for free.
Oh, and your email address will look nice if you print it on business cards or write it on a cocktail napkin.
- I hesitate to actually type it out for fear of spambots spamming me. That said, Gmail’s got fantastic spam filtering. ↩
- And terribly confusing. I have a Yahoo! account for Flickr; to research this article, I logged into the email web app, and boy is it confusing. I’m good at the Internet and email, but Yahoo! filled me with anxiety and frustration. ↩
- The app is free, but your phone company might charge you for using the Internet. Check on that. ↩
Well great point, but I do have another email address. andersonchristy@hotmail.com. I use that for formal uses. Thanks for the great pointers though. Well done sir well done indeed.