I am baffled at how people continue using such a service for something as important as e-mail in 2012, while still being fully aware that their access can be completely cut off at random with no reason or recourse. Does everyone just assume "it won't happen to me"?
Gmail is very convenient, so I use it despite the very small risk that it will backfire on me.
It's free and works PERFECTLY 99.9%+ of the time, for 99.9%+ of users. The edge case (being shut off) can be easily worked around by having backups and changing your MX records to some other email provider ifwhen you find yourself without service from Google.
This risk is acceptable when weighed against "worst-case is 24 hours of no email while I switch providers", and even that probably won't happen. If it does happen to you, it's just a small temporary inconvenience with no lasting effect.
"Shit happens, always have regular tested backups (gmail or otherwise)" negates any potential data loss.
But good point, and I reckon that's another good reason for anyone using email for professional purposes to get their own domain and use it.
(One of my pet peeves is seeing businesses advertise a www.mycompany.co.uk website and a bob@aol.com address. Small places do it a lot - why would you buy a domain and not use it fully? Why?)
So, you're paying and giving up on a nice webmail client with two-factor auth (how many providers offer this?) for "finding out what happen". I don't think it's a great deal.
I'm not a Gmail apologist, by the way - I think there are valid reasons not to use it, like not giving Google a copy of your whole life - but I don't find their policy for when "shit happens" a real problem.
The point was, that exclusively relying on it is not smart, if email is important to you. You can easily use the full benefits of your gmail convenience while still having a fully working fallback. There are even two ways of doing it, one would be to simply forward your email, or using your own domain on google apps.
Hmm, from the first post I replied to (by 'there'):
I am baffled at how people continue using such a serviceI'd bet that Gmail has better uptime and less chance of loss than owning your own domain, for most cases.
That's why I decided to get my own domain and use google apps 4 domain. I mean, who knows what happens in 10 years, maybe twitter will became internet-giant and I'll use twitter apps 4 domain then.
People hate on Google Apps, but you don't give up control if you follow both these steps (which is easy.)
I also don't see any reason why another email provider won't do what people are afraid Google will do.
Really?
Do you know of any other (free) options out there with comparable options? I really only use the hosted email, but other features are always handy
I am consistently baffled that people with higher than average technical skills assume that everyone is at their level.
Many people worry about Gmail/Google cutting them off with no/ or little recourse. The mistake in your assumption that I'm pointing out as an example is that most people don't know how to run their own mail.
So, no: I don't think everyone is assuming it won't happen to them. They just don't know what to do, and that's no reason to cast Gmail users as afflicted with the 'psychological law of self exception' (or willfully ignorant).
The GP is talking about Google themselves blocking access. I'm not worried that Google will reset my passwords in other accounts.
To me, it's worth the tiny, tiny risk that I might get cut off.