Google's free e-mail service finally open to all, AP via Silicon.com (Feb 13)
Google's web-based email, Gmail, is finally open to all. Until today people needed an invitation to set up an account. Users have up to 2.8 GB of space - surely enough to hold all manner of digital things. [Yahoo has 1 GB, and MSN Hotmail 2 GB]. But be aware that using Gmail will mean that the do-no-evil Google knows more about you. This may be good or bad depending on how you look at it. And of course you do get ads, presumably tailored to your interests.
"Making Gmail more widely available is important to Google because other key products like instant messaging and calendar management are tied into the e-mail service, company co-founder Sergey Brin said an interview. ``It has become a real cornerstone for us.''
Because Gmail users often remain logged into Google's Web site while they conduct online searches, the service also helps the company's engineers learn more about individual preferences -- knowledge that can help deliver more relevant search results and foster more loyalty."
Web-based email services from Yahoo and MSN have more users -- Gmail had 60 million unique visitors in December 2006 - "... far behind Yahoo Inc.'s free e-mail, which increased 11 percent to 249 million unique visitors and Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail, which rose 13 percent to 236 million, comScore said."