The most powerful free e-mail

[hadaso]

Originally posted by mikedk
gphillips123, hi, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned fastmail.fm;

He didn't mention it because it didn't exist when he posted.

Funny things these forum conversations. They can span years sometimes...

This thread was started around the time I decided to stop using my work email and forward it to a free webmail account (onebox.com) because the 0.5MB mail quota at work was sometimes too small for e single message, and I could get 3MB quota for free.

[ROBERT.BAK]

Just rediscovered this ancient thread. With the sole exceptions of Fastmail (and OperaMail, which is now run by the same people as Fastmail), I don't think any of the services mentioned exist any longer!

One disturbing post was that of johnpanky, posing as a "satisfied customer" but the service he was promoting was his own. Get caught doing that nowadays, and both service and poster will be banned from EMD...

[drew]

Yes such is interesting.
what one see as reliable could be gone the next day.

MySpace was used by millions and then Facebook
came and totally took over and Google tried and tried
but still have not managed to persuade users to switch
to using their rather similar service.

I don't want to join FB but all the interesting groups
about Biking and taking care of pets and many other
things are active there. I fail to get to know these people
because they are not active at other forums.

Others predict that even FB despite being used by
many many million hundreds of million also could
just get abandoned and something else take over?

[Tsunami]

Originally Posted by drew

Others predict that even FB despite being used by
many many million hundreds of million also could
just get abandoned and something else take over?

This is not a prediction. This is simply citing a certain fact.

Back in the day MSN Messenger was the biggest thing around, it was so widely used that many thought it would be around for as long as the web would exist. Well, it is still there but few use it.

Then came MySpace and for a few years the hype was huge, everyone was into MySpace and it became the primary online hub for millions.

Again the hype faded and then came Facebook. They too, will some day be overpowered by another new hype, and then slowly shrink to the size of a little used network which to many is only a distant memory. The same thing happened to MySpace.

The only reason why Google is still doing well is because they constantly launch new products. If they had stuck to their initial offering, then they would have been surpassed by another search engine long ago. They decided to get innovative and that has secured their position on the market. However, they are about the ONLY big player who has been around and growing for many years without a serious drop in popularity at some point.

Facebook at some point will shrink, just like MySpace did. Back then, nobody thought MySpace would be surpassed by another player, let alone so soon.

It will be interesting to see what Twitter will evolve into. They already have the potential to overpower Facebook due to the many journalists and events that are focussed on Twitter. The speed of exchanging info and simplicity of the concept is very strong. I think they will be the next big hype, and thus pushing down Facebook on the list of popular websites.

However... While I usually would say "no empire doesn't eventually fall", Twitter may be the one social networking site that has the power to survive really long term. Because they are taken very seriously and had rapidly gained impact on the way newsfacts were spread, on the media. They accomplished a lot and gained a very good status in a relatively short time. If there is one social network which may not face the same fate as Friendster, MySpace; etc it may be Twitter.

Of course, the question is: will Twitter get competition from a similar service for microblogging and extremely rapid exchange of info?



PS: when I say Google is the only big player who, thanks to innovation, never faded, I deliberately mention Google and not the likes of AOL or Yahoo. Because while still around and widely used, they do have their financial worries and are clearly surpassed in popularity by Google both as search engines and as email provider. They are still going strong, but compared to Google, I'd say Yahoo has found a place in the shadow of Google. Surviving, but clearly no longer the nr 1 out there.

Google is very likely to also stay in its current top position. But as for the social networking, there is so much new coming that no such site will remain a dominant power forever. I see Facebook join MySpace and Friendster soon: still around, but surpassed in popularity by the next hype.
If any networking site may escape from being pushed off its throne, it may be Twitter given its high credibility.

[David]

You write very well Tsunami; I enjoyed reading your post.

[gaia]

I think that Hotmail is now the best free email. Absolutely amazing how Microsoft turned it around with its recent refresh.

[Tsunami]

Originally Posted by David

You write very well Tsunami; I enjoyed reading your post.

Thanks

While re-reading my post I have an addition: I said Twitter may have the best potential to survive long term when it comes to social networking. Unless another similar service gains popularity.

I may have overlooked Tumblr. Aren't they doing a bit similar things as Twitter? Of course at the moment it is clear Tumblr does not have the credibility, usage and popularity of Twitter. But the setup, the basic idea, seems to have some things in common with Twitter. If Tumblr would go innovating and try to add some features that Twitter has not yet installed, would they be able to become a real competitor? Or has Twitter gained such credibility by now that it is unlikely to face real competition in their field?

In any ways, I really don't see Facebook survive much longer without dropping to the level of MySpace or Friendster: the hardcore fans stay, the other try out the next hype. To remain on top, you have to constantly offer something new or extra, so that your users stick to your service even when they are actively looking for something new. Google so far grasped that very well: it started off as a great search engine, when competition from other such engines grew they added a very strong email service. Again a step ahead of the competitors. After Hotmail, Yahoo etc also increased their storage to catch up with Gmail, Google began offering yet another new sets of services, such as Google Maps and taking over the popular blogging platform Blogspot. When social networks began to become the big hype, Google launched Google+, they may not be the innovators this time but they built the network different enough from the other networks to again offer something different.

That is how you can maintain your users' loyalty: the moment they want to try something new, make sure they don't have to go to a competitor to find that new thing. Offer it yourself! Google grasped that very well.



As said, I am very curious to see how Twitter evolves. Their service is such a different concept it may have the power to be one that stays at the top. But then the question is: will other providers focus on microblogging too, and will this have any impact on Twitter or is it unlikely their users would swap to a similar microblogging service?

It'll be an interesting evolution to follow.

One thing you gotta acknowledge though: while all famous folks have a Facebook account, a Google account, ... many of them don't use it very often, or hire staff to post the messages. Twitter however attracted presidents of countries, very important enterprises, the most popular artists on earth, famous sportsmen, famous film stars, highly credible journalists, ... and while they often have a secretary doing the hard work posting messages online, a lot of these famous folks do post themselves on Twitter and even see it as the new channel to stay in direct communications with their fans of followers. Even the Pope has posted on Twitter! That says a lot when people like that recognise the impact of a website to such extent they make time available to personally use it.

I am still not a Twitter fan or so, but I do think their survival potential on the long haul is a lot higher than that of other networking services. Unless indeed another microblogging service manages to create such impact that even convinced Twitter fanatics make the move. Somehow I don't see that happen too soon.

[Tsunami]

PS: one sidenote: we have to be careful not to see Brave New World become a prophecy rather than a novel. At the moment apps make it possible to do virtually anything online no matter where you are or at what time. There are even apps now to turn on/off the heater from a distance while you're not home... We do depend on the internet for a lot of things and the time we are neither at home nor at work we begin to still be connected all the time thanks to those apps and such.

Now it is great to see the world connecting this way, but where should we draw a line? I do fear that in the quest for innovation, we may eventually cross a line and end up relying/depending on computers. Which is a point we hopefully won't reach but does deserve some thinking. Compare now to just 6 or 7 years ago: the impact and availability of the web has grown extremely rapidly. That is great, but in the race for innovation, we should also be careful exactly what we're innovating and releasing for the public.

I think the internet is a great tool for exchanging knowledge, but I would hate to be totally depending on it. I mean, for example, I am glad that I can still go to a pub with friends and socialise without a computer screen connecting us. I am glad I can still hop into the local bank for a transaction rather than go on Wi-Fi and start online banking. And reading an old fashioned book with a hard cover and paper, can be surprisingly pleasant even when that same book can be read entirely online. I'd hate it if we would reach a point when the internet has grasped control of everything we do. We have to be careful that in our enthousiasm we're not going to burn ourselves...