I have 25 gmail invites for the asking.

domahboy AT gmail.com

please put gmail invite or cbid in subject line

I'll see your 25 and raise you 25.

I've got 50 for the taking for when his run out.

ascampbell at

pobox

dot

com

:)

I'm in for 50 also!

clive(dot)foster(at)gmail(dot)com

I'll call...

Whats the deal w/Gmail ?

Pro vs con ?

Gmail gives you tons of mail storage, considerably more than other providers. You can also send larger files through their servers. I don't profess to know all the GOOD details, but 1 CON keeps me away.

Gmail uses intelligent technology to scan your mail messages (data mining at it's finest) and they say they don't snoop, but this technology creates links to advertisers, based on the information gathered from your messages.

It tailors the advertising you see on your screen to what they think your interests are based on your message content.

I think advertisers are already pushing their way into our heads relentlessly enough, and they don't need a free pass.

This is a boondoggle for Google. Why wouldn't you give away millions of free email accounts if you know corporate spies are willing to pay you a fee for every person they spy on? They tell you right up front that they're gonna spy on you, so it's no secret.

If you feel ok with that, then Gmail is a great deal.

So what's in it for all the folks 'giving' away gmail 'invites'?

Is this like friggin' amway or something?

Well, Shipmate I don't have that answer. I don't know. Your AMWAY reference is accurate. You tell 25 people, who each tell 25 people, who in turn each tell 25 people. I'm sure there's a freebie in there somewhere, but the winner will always be the ad people. No better way to gather a group of people all in one place.

As the group gets larger, so does the possibility for generating revenue. Not a bad business plan if you ask me. I'm just tired of getting jammed on a daily basis. Our online privacy sucks right now as it is, and if you and I had a conversation about cigars using Gmail, I have no doubt that before I was through reading your reply to me, I would have ads flashing for lighters, ashtrays, nicoderm CQ, Cohiba t-shirts, vacations to the Dominican Republic and Mastercard to buy those expensive cigars I like to watch other people buy.

No perks for me.

I just have the things to give away.

It's only available by invite...some feeling of elitism or something like that 😉.

I don't notice the ads. They're text only and at the far right side of the screen. So I don't mind that. If they were popups or images (al la Hotmail) that would slow load time...that might be another thing.

Another nice perk with gmail is that you can instantly search through all of the e-mail messages you've received like you would with Google. Type in a phrase...bam...every message containing it shows up.

If anything...grab an account and play around with it. There are some other nice features that are hard to describe without you seeing.

Call the gmail offers ROAK. 😉

BTW...

Just thought I'd check the whole ad deal.

Went through 10 e-mails I've received from BOTL's...

8 of them showed no ads...

The two that did...one was about shipping details and had a single ad from stamps.com...

The other mentioned New Mexico, so it had two ads from NM realtors.

I'm working on a 19" monitor at 1280x1024 resolution...the ad's are about one inch in width. There is the title of the ad which is a hyperlink...followed by the text which is a two line, 25 character (4-5 words) per line type set.

VERY minor and easy to ignore.

About my data being mined. Ehh. There are much worse offenders I feel. And since my "real information" isn't connected to my gmail account...there's no way my name/addy/SSN/birthday or any other *real* information can be connected to this *cyber space* information.

Know what I'm sayin? Some battles just aren't worth my concern.