

When Google kills Gmail - pixxel
http://pixxel.co/feed/when-google-kills-gmail

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epenn
_I’m going to start using my own domain address for email 100% now. I’ll still
push it through Google Apps premium because I love using Gmail. But if Google
ever kills off Gmail then I still have full control of my email address._

This is good advice in general, regardless of which email service you use.
Even further, it's good advice for any service you use that has a public
component. I love tumblr, but if they were to go out of business tomorrow then
foobar.tumblr.com isn't going to mean much. If you're using it as the backend
for a blog at your own URL though, you can switch services without requiring
your readers to change their habits. Whether it's email, blogging, or anything
else, I think maintaining control of the entry point(s) for any publicly
facing services you use is really important.

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pixxel
Good point about Tumblr. I've a Tumblr with 4.5k followers. All pointless hard
work if Tumblr decides to quit.

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bengillies
I don't think Google's going to kill off Gmail (at least any time in the short
to medium term). On the other hand, I can see the following things happening:

1) Google kills of Groups in favour of Google+ 2) If not (1), Google limits
Groups postings to only those coming from a Google account. 3) Google kills
off one or all of Sites, Offers, Finance, Blogger

Of those, I reckon (1) or (2) is the most likely. Groups (despite being really
useful) was already out of date when it was launched.

Of course, that's all meaningless speculation like much of the linked article.

The conclusion at the end though (switching to an email account on your own
domain), is relatively sensible (even if Google isn't about to close Gmail
(hint: they aren't)). Controlling your own email address, if not the provider,
reduces lock in and makes it generally a lot easier to switch to someone else
in the future if/when something better turns up.

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steven_h
Google isn't about to up and close Gmail when people actually pay for it
through Apps for Business and Education. Gmail is hardly on an ad supported
only model, which could be supported when you observe how they removed free
email for new domains, turning it into a premium only product (With existing
users grandfathered in).

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Peroni
What's the point of this article? There is literally no substance or learnings
to be taken from this.

