GMail

What the heck is everyones problem with this?  I think it will be fantastic, a revolution in free email services, I also think it could with enough time easily overtake hotmail.

I keep getting snippets from sites and 'technical experts' with phrases like:

He also expressed concern that Google was using a single cookie -- a text file stored on every user's hard drive to keep track of the user's preferences and browsing history -- for all of its services, which would allow Google to correlate people's e-mails with their Web searches.

So what?  Theres easier ways to correlate emails with searches, you don't need a cookie.  And so what if they do?  Who cares?  Cookies don't damage you or your PC, cookies can only store data the user feeds to them.

Gmail, the discussion is all overblown.  I am looking forward to it.

The google we know is not the google that will be.

Google plans to go public in the near future. In the US, it is conceded that corporation management has an obligation to increase the value of the company for it's shareholders. In many corps, senior management bonus is based upon doing that by "whatever it takes".

They currently target their adds to your search terms. Now they'll know who your friends are as well and can make some educated guesses that your friends will probably be interested in may of the same sites that you are.

As your email friend, I might start getting those high revenue adds that correspond to your searches for sites with the terms consenting+farm+animals+duct+tape.

Edited by dpyers

Yeha right, I am sure they find a way to exploit email addresses you use. I saw something on TechTV about that last night and there are real concerns that a company that goes IPO is in the process of violating privacy like that. Personally I don't care I just have one webmail account which I use for passport and that's it. As for search engines I am back with Yahoo as their Search Engine again is much stronger then google.

Yahoo US switched ovr to Inktomi a couple of months ago. Yahoo UK and other locations are still using google I think.