The people at Google seem to have a golden touch. They create a positive media hype with almost everything they do, including Gmail.
Every now and then they have lived up to the hype. But having used Gmail for some time now, I'm saying the biggest cool thing in it is the Google logo. Ok, you have decent threading and a lightning-fast search. However, I still have to see the person who actually uses webmail with enough mail to significantly benefit from these features. Gmail UI is good, but it's not good enough for me to switch over - I still need the richness of a native GUI app. Gmail's famous JS hacks are evolutionary, not revolutionary.
But to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a better webmail. Gmail rocks, but it just doesn't rock enough to become an alternative to traditional desktop mail apps. Not for people like me.
Then again, if you're going to get a webmail account anyway and can get an invitation, I'll recommend Gmail anytime. Or, if you're a Linux geek, you'll certainly want it. Why, you ask? Two words: Gmail filesystem.
Posted by Jouni Heikniemi at August 29, 2004 02:57 PM