I've never been able to understand why anyone with a clue uses Gmail. I just have all my devices sync to an IMAP server provided by an ISP. Android phones have a perfectly good IMAP client. No ads, reasonably good spam filtering, and reasonably good search capability.
All this talk of 'having a clue' - where exactly in my daily list of conflicting and competing daily priorities should I put "Worry about Google profiling me via my email content"?
Advertising aside, I also understand there's a valid argument that we should all use strong encryption and secure email to give (those of us that need it) the benefits of herd immunity against government snooping. However - once again it's a not terribly high up my list of things to worry about right now. That makes me a slightly worse person on par with not recycling enough and leaving my electronic devices on standby overnight.
I willingly - and I hope knowingly - accept the trade-offs in using GMail. At least 3 people in this thread think I'm lacking in clue. Can someone please explain to me why?
Note that he could be living in a jurisdiction where the law provides better protection for electronic communications (email being one of them), thus preventing his ISP from reading/analyzing/reselling his emails.
For all the problems we've manage to create, I'll trust Norwegian provider Telenor much more than I do Google. If only because they share my jurisdiction (Norway) -- where I have rights. I have no rights in the US -- at least when I'm not physically there.
This is an important point many overlook (despite being aware of Google Apps for Work (nee Business)) -- registering a personal domain in order to have at least one email that will follow you for as long as you want -- does not mean you have to run your own incomming/outgoing email servers!
Most domain registrars will forward email for free, and most offer some form of cheap, but reasonable email service (smtp+imap).
Building your own Postfix server isn't hard. (It's certainly not easy, but it's not too hard either.)
If you're paying someone for hosting anyway it's a few days of extra work from a cold start to set up a server on Linode or Digital Ocean and become your own ISP/hosting co.
