[jokell82]

Originally Posted by driven 

Use the browser to go to www.gmail.com and bingo!

Now there is a great solution!

[driven]

Depends on how bad you want it to work.

Gmail really wasn't designed for a desktop client anyway ... so to have any solution is sort of nice.

If that's not appropriate for you then perhaps the Blackberry would be a better solution in your case.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by driven 

Depends on how bad you want it to work.

Gmail really wasn't designed for a desktop client anyway ... so to have any solution is sort of nice.

If that's not appropriate for you then perhaps the Blackberry would be a better solution in your case.

Why would I get a Blackberry when Gmail works on my iPhone just fine? What would be nice is if Apple would enable you to use any account as a push mail account with Mobile Me, which would be easy to do if they allowed external accounts in the web client.

[Randman]

Foward your gmail to your .mac account. Set up a desktop icon on your iPhone to access gmail directly when you want to respond. Or create a .mac/.me alias and respond from there.

[driven]

My point was if push gmail was super-important to you then (right now) a blackberry might be a better solution. Blackberry has a NOC which allows them to do some back-end polling of GMAIL whereas Apple does not. (You connect directly to Gmail)

Yahoo and (soon) .mac have IMAP push. Gmail does not.

[Cold Warrior]

Gmail supports IMAP IDLE. I get "push" Gmail IMAP all the time using any email client that supports IMAP IDLE.

[Salty]

I'm sure with this push server they're putting together they could no problem get Gmail working for push if they made the effort.

[driven]

If that is the case I stand corrected.

[nonhuman]

'Push' email requires support on both the server end and the client end. For the iPhone to support 'push' email means that the client end is covered, at least for one particular implementtaion of 'push' email. If that implementation happens to be IMAP+IDLE (which seems decently likely), then it will work with Gmail which already supports that. If it's some other implementation (which is not outside the realm of possibility) then for it to work with Gmail would require effort on Google's part.

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by nonhuman 

'Push' email requires support on both the server end and the client end. For the iPhone to support 'push' email means that the client end is covered, at least for one particular implementtaion of 'push' email. If that implementation happens to be IMAP+IDLE (which seems decently likely), then it will work with Gmail which already supports that. If it's some other implementation (which is not outside the realm of possibility) then for it to work with Gmail would require effort on Google's part.

Doesn't the original iPhone do push email from Yahoo?

[moep]

Originally Posted by BRussell 

Doesn't the original iPhone do push email from Yahoo?

Yes it does but AFAIK the implementation is quite unique.

Yahoo sends a "hidden" SMS to the iPhone whenever new mail is available, telling it to check the server and "pull". It doesn't support real IMAP-IDLE. Not sure why, maybe to save battery life?

More on this topic:
iPhone IMAP Vulnerability; Does NOT Support IMAP IDLE
iPhone: Too cool to do standards, too hip to do security.

[surferboy]

This is precisely what I have been waiting for! In my opinion iPhone 2.0 software and mobileme are much more exciting than a faster iPhone. Push technology and OTA sync are absolutely huge for the industry/medical world.

Now, I have to figure out how mobileme will allow me to delegate my calendar keeping to my assistant. Or, is it possible to have more than one mobileme account on the iPhone? This is still not a true shared calendar solution, unless I have not figure it out yet! For instance, how can I give my office privileges to control my calendar without privileges to read my email, etc.?

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by analogika 

I wish you wouldn't do this.

Some of us are just satisfied customers, with experiences that possibly differed from yours - possibly even just in the time since you gave up on the service.

Apple excels on so many levels, but when they introduce online services, my experience leads me to low expectations. That's all.

I want Apple to succeed, I WANT to give them my money and at the same time I want them to be consistent in the quality of their products. Hardware: great! Software: great! online-services: subpar to mediocre!

Perhaps dotmac is better today, but for twenty-six months straight, it was very unreliable and with very few features and no added.. that was my experience.

I think I would have been ready to throw cash at dotmac if they had added features every quarter or so.. what annoyed me the most was that it was stagnant AND unreliable for more than two years. I love spending on frivilous things. Dotmac just didn't cut the mustard back then and it's still underwhelming today, as the title of this thread suggests.

Unless you are the ideasmith for dotmac, you are not allowed to take criticizm of it personally!

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

Being a satisfied Apple customer does not make one an apologist.

That is true

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

I've used Apple computers for over 10 years and have NEVER had a problem with a single one of them.

THAT makes you sound like an apologist!

Originally Posted by Mrjinglesusa 

I've used .Mac since its inception, and have been very satisfied with its ease of use and seamless integration with my computers.

..while that makes you sound like a soundbite from an Apple commercial!

[analogika]

Originally Posted by voodoo 

Unless you are the ideasmith for dotmac, you are not allowed to take criticizm of it personally!

Then please don't make it sound like people who are happy with the service are liars or idiots.

That may not be your intention, but your points are coming across a bit...strong.