I started using Gmail regularly for business back in March. It happened right after a series of frequent, productivity-killing crashes of my Entourage mail client (what Microsoft calls Outlook on the Mac.)
I'll be honest; it took some getting used to. First off, no folders? Really? Google, you think your mail search is all that? (Actually, it is all that and a bag of chips.)
However, since I'm often checking email from my iPhone, I fell in love with the automatic sync that Gmail (as a Web mail app) provided. I'd check my email while waiting in line somewhere, reply, and the original message would be archived and my message in my sent folder, even when I returned to my work computer. Or my home computer. Or an Internet café computer, if I went there.
I also love the way Gmail threads messages, collapsing previously read messages automatically, and even telling me while I'm reading an email if a new, updated response has come in. Sometimes it gets a little too aggressive with threading messages, however, and I wish there was an easy way to unthread certain threads.
And for years I joked about writing a script that would check for attachments if the word "attachment" was in the email, so I wouldn't keep forgetting. And lo and behold, Gmail has that feature as well.
Of course, there are drawbacks, too. The lack of folders, recent downtime and the Web-based nature of the application makes it not for everyone.
I wrote up a pro and con list of making the switch to Gmail and entitled it Gmail: Is Free Email Right for Your Small Business. It's this month's issue of flyte log. Enjoy.
Rich Brooks
Web Tools for Small Business
Recent Comments