Reasons why we chose FastMail over GMail

[pcs]

Originally Posted by JMac

Just be careful exactly what you put online...

This of course is just my opinion (and I don't think I'm necessarily in disagreement with anybody here), but I think that it's far more important to be cognizant of what you are putting online, vs. the provider you choose to put something online with.

[JMac]

Originally Posted by pcs

This of course is just my opinion (and I don't think I'm necessarily in disagreement with anybody here), but I think that it's far more important to be cognizant of what you are putting online, vs. the provider you choose to put something online with.

Only true to an extent.

Jim

[pcs]

Originally Posted by JMac

Only true to an extent.

Jim

I would respectfully submit that nearly everything on the Internet, on this forum, and in this thread, is "only true to an extent."

[Aimlink]

Originally Posted by pcs

I would respectfully submit that nearly everything on the Internet, on this forum, and in this thread, is "only true to an extent."

..but not to the same degree.

[JMac]

Originally Posted by pcs

I would respectfully submit that nearly everything on the Internet, on this forum, and in this thread, is "only true to an extent."

I submit that ...the provider I choose to put something online with..." is far more important than you imply. How that provider intends to use that information to derive revenue is the crux of my concern. Fastmail currently derives revenue by selling me the service that they do. Google, on the other hand, derives revenue from the advertisers to whom they provide access - whether in aggregate or with some personalization. At first it was all aggregate data, but they now offer much more narrowed data, which does cause me to be more hesitant to provide personal data to Google.

I fully realize that on any given day, any internet provider may decide to try and make more money from my data than originally intended and expressed. Ergo, my "to an extent" comment. But I am already well aware of some of the things that Google does with it, and I am less comfortable with their business model.

Jim

[JMac]

BTW, I should add that I DO use Gmail, but not for anything remotely secure. For that matter I also do not use Fastmail for any email correspondence that should actually be secure.

But there is some data I might send via Fastmail that, while not containing any information that would be devastating if seen publicly, I just wouldn't want to be generally available. Stuff I don't want to be public, but it won't hurt me if it somehow was seen by others. I don't use Gmail for anything close to that personal.

I also use Google Calendar - I really like that it is so accessible from a mobile device. I am more wary of Docs and Spreadsheets since I already had an incident where my data was made public without my realizing it. Google Reader is also out because of the recent forced sharing "feature" Google added. I also use Picasa - not as my primary image organizer or browser, but as a nice real cheap backup!

Thanks.

Jim

[rahulbatra]

Something that people participating here might want to read. Its a great opinion of what "free" is meaning now-a-days.

The Danger of Free

[pcs]

Originally Posted by JMac

BTW, I should add that I DO use Gmail, but not for anything remotely secure. For that matter I also do not use Fastmail for any email correspondence that should actually be secure...

Again, this is just my opinion (and as always, I could be incorrect), but the above statement seems to underscore the theme of my first quick missive. That is that it is generally more important to first think of what you decide to put online. I realize that it's not exactly an original thought, but I still thought it was a substantive point.

[DianeB]

ok,, i see i'm coming in this thread a little late,, but what the heck,,,

Originally Posted by brong

Yeah, we're pretty approachable

my wee bit of experience echo's the FM team is,, indeed,, *very approachable*. though i try my best to never contact support because i feel others have more pressing matters than what i might. (not to say i wouldn't send in a support ticket if needed).

Originally Posted by hadaso

I agree that auto-save is great and I wish FastMail had it.

this is the one feature i love most in gmail. i can't count the times i've been composing in FM (or even word doc) & had a freeze and/or crash & lost everything. though the last time in word doc i happened to mention it to my best-est online friend,, and she was able to tell me that it should still be "somewhere" on c drive,, & after some searching,, fortunately i found it. it was a 25 page letter to my daughter & needless to say,, i was aghast thinking i had lost it all. (no,, it didn't end up 25 pages,, i type in 18 pt font due to poor eyesight now,, then shrink to 12pt to print. she's 19 (will be 20 next month) with the 20/20 vision i had at that age too. ).
but since that happened,, i've taken to composing anything of great length via gmail,, strictly because of their autosave feature. i absolutely love it!

Originally Posted by Merovingian

* Search archives first, then post your issue here on the forum. There are so many knowledgeable people that don't work for Fastmail, most issues can be trouble-shot and fixed by members here.

this forum IS probably at least 95-98% of what sold me on FM from day one. my very first post was very long, with tons of questions,, that were answered by many different folks. so i can't praise the member's of EMD enough. they give very willingly of their time and knowledge both,, and i don't think i've ever posted a problem that i didn't get a response in a very timely manner. and most every time it was something that other member's had the correct/needed answer for.

Originally Posted by anachron

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that part of Google's quietly draconian terms of service are that, since you're using their service for free, they have the right to search through, index, and presumably store indefinitely all of your private email, for marketing or whatever other purposes they see fit. I haven't read the Gmail TOS or privacy policy lately but if I recall it's something along those lines.

i didn't go with gmail until the great FM problem a few years ago. (i can't remember exactly when it was--too many "senior moments" these days,, also known as my "CRS" moments. translates to "can't remember sh**". or *shoot*. take your pick! ). but when i was without email for 3 days,, i then started forwarding everything to a gmail account for back-up purposes only. (though thankfully,, i've never had to use it for that purpose since implementing). but the one thing that concerned me about gmail then,, & is still somewhat troublesome to me,, is the privacy issue.

Originally Posted by JMac

Just be careful exactly what you put online with a public entity that is trying hard to derive revenue - all its revenue - from your data. It may not end as you intended!!
Jim

exactly!! i don't really have any emails that would cause great harm to anyone if made public. it's just the idea of my mail not really being my mail. **SIGH

i chose FM back in 2003 mainly because of the EMD forums & the wonderful members that had answers for all of my very many questions at the time. while i'm pretty sure that i don't use email to the extent of most users here,, (i have a full account),, i have become very spoiled with all the features/options & can't imagine ever going back to using my ISP or gmail for my main email needs. (or any another other "free" email service).

so i'm afraid FM has me for life! (it's not like i'm 20 years old & have the knowledge that technology will advance that greatly before my time on earth is up. ). as long as FM stays fairly updated with the times,, i figure i'll continue being a very happy customer/camper.

~Diane

[zhak]

Originally Posted by DianeB

i can't count the times i've been composing in FM (or even word doc) & had a freeze and/or crash & lost everything. though the last time in word doc i happened to mention it to my best-est online friend,, and she was able to tell me that it should still be "somewhere" on c drive,, & after some searching,, fortunately i found it.

A bit OT, but under Word's options (as well as other Office apps), under 'save', you can safely change the period between auto-recovery saves from the default of 10 minutes to 1 minute, regardless of the speed of your computer. For Word and Excel, you can also change the directory where the auto-recovery files are stored, such as to a 'Recovered' folder under your 'My Documents' folder, or somewhere else that's easy to find.

[JMac]

Thanks for that, zhac! Just changed those settings myself in Word and Excel. I actually have done that on previous Office installations but for some reason have never done it on my current copy of Office 2003.

BTW, in Excel the auto-recovery folder can be edited on the Save tab, as you posted. Word, however has that setting in Options under the File Locations tab.

Thanks again.

Jim

[zhak]

Originally Posted by JMac

BTW, in Excel the auto-recovery folder can be edited on the Save tab, as you posted. Word, however has that setting in Options under the File Locations tab.

Ha. MS always changing things around, never used 2003, wasn't sure about 2002 (XP) anymore, but it's under save in 2007.

Probably the only consistent thing is searching for 'auto recovery' in Office help.

[rats]

Originally Posted by Dan L

I'll start.

http://groups.google.com/group/Gmail...f90d55ac9e6ff9

I don't mean to rain on your parade but do you agree Fastmail also disables account without warning. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Sherry]

Originally Posted by rats

I don't mean to rain on your parade but do you agree Fastmail also disables account without warning. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I believe they would only do that if someone is sending out spam or doing something illegal or breaking the TOS. If they are getting close to a quota (bandwidth or storage) they send out warning emails as the account gets closer and closer to the quotas.

Sherry

[Merovingian]

Originally Posted by rats

I don't mean to rain on your parade but do you agree Fastmail also disables account without warning. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't know how you could *not* mean to rain on the parade by posting this on a "Why I choose Fastmail" thread

I would agree that this has occurred to some customers of Fastmail, but I would still contend that, at least at Fastmail, there are real people that you can contact that will reply and assist you. It's been my experience with Gmail that it is near impossible to get anything but an automated response, regardless of the issue. That is one main reason I choose Fastmail.