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Proudest Monkey · Jul 19, 2002, 08:23 PM

i'm with the <a href="http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?iTol://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?iTol" target="_blank">17,963 people</a> as of right now that will not pay for .Mac and its services. not a big deal to me, i will not start yet another forum complaining about it, at least those are not my intentions. however, i am seeking advice on a free email account i can access anywhere. i hate using AOL and it bothers me that Earthlink, for whatever reason, never saves my emails on the servers ( i've emailed them, called them, tried everything). so .. where are people turning to i am asking?

hotmail? yahoo?

excuse my ignorance, i just don't know of many places that offer free email

[ 07-19-2002, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Proudest Monkey ]

[email protected] · Jul 19, 2002, 08:37 PM

you could go back to school...

saltines17 · Jul 19, 2002, 08:38 PM

DMB fans on the forums? Yay

Anyway... As of right now I'd say yahoo.com and mail.com are somewhat viable options, although I'm going to use my ISP's email now. Thing is: can you use yahoo or mail.com through a POP or IMAP client such as Mail? Are there any free email sites that are compatible with mail clients?

Goddamn this .Mac crap... I'm not paying $100 annually for an EMAIL ADDRESS.

cacarr1 · Jul 19, 2002, 08:45 PM

Sadly, I think that ten years from now we are all going to look back with wonder and astonishment and say: "I can't beleive email was free..." Stating the obvious, but this is where it's all headed. bummer...

Target Practice · Jul 19, 2002, 08:53 PM

Those are your two best choices. I have both and prefer Yahoo!

However, nothing is really free. With Yahoo! or HotMail, you will get advertising and email taglines beyond your control -- unless you are willing to pay to suppress them. I am hoping .Mac with add some Yahoo!-like premium services such as eFax and VoiceMail.

I can't imagine how Apple could continue with iTools without collecting subscriber or advertiser revenue -- especially since they launched a Windows compatible WebMail service. You don't even have to buy a Mac now to use iTools -- how does contribute to Apple's ROI?

If you switch to Yahoo! (or any other) you will eventually end up paying similar to .Mac fees to get an ad-free POP/IMAP/WebMail service.

EVERY free email service has either gone out business or resorted to subscriptions to maintain the original service promise. This is not unique to Apple.

So, good luck finding something else. You won't. And, nothing will work with OS X like .Mac.

Perhaps this is Apple's way of compensating for lost OS sales from Hotline/Carracho.

Target Practice · Jul 19, 2002, 09:03 PM

Furthermore...

I've had a NetScape (free for life) email address, a MindSpring address, a HotMail address, a Yahoo! address, a Road Runner addreess, an AOL address, and my own domain address.

The only way to keep a consistant email address it to pay for it. I was screwed by Netscape, because they shut down for a while and I did not receive very important correspondence. I thought Mindspring would be my best bet until I needed to switch ISPs to get high-speed service in NYC. Now I realize that my Road Runner (@nyc.rr.com) address is useless if I move from New York.

My conclusion is that paying for my own domain name (and moving it around to different providers as necessary) is the best solution. Next to that, I would pay for ISP independent providers like .Mac, Yahoo!, or Hotmail. Among them, I think .Mac will be the best lifetime address provided I am willing to pay.

But, nothing good is really for free.

cmoney · Jul 19, 2002, 10:51 PM

Those looking to compare .Mac with fuller web-hosting providers can go to <a href="http://www.webhostdir.com" target="_blank">WebHostDirectory</a>.

Proudest Monkey · Jul 20, 2002, 03:03 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by [email protected]:
you could go back to school...<hr /></blockquote>whats the deal with this guy ... i don't understand why people respond when they don't actually plan to offer any help. i believe the forums are set up for people looking for help.