Whoa, that’s two weeks in a row where I’ve agreed with Walt Mossberg. I’m going to have to soon stop reading the Wall Street Journal. Last time around it was Foldershare that had me agreeing with the WSJ’s big-footed technology columnist, this week it is his piece comparing Google’s Gmail to Yahoo’s latest beta release of its email program.
To make his column shorter, Walt, like me, thinks Yahoo Mail (beta) is head-and-shoulders better than Gmail. Not only that, he sneaks in a few well-deserved digs at the arrogant software design ethos underlying Gmail:
But Gmail’s limitations go beyond [a crummy graphical interface]. On several key issues, Google’s engineers have decreed that familiar email practices are no longer useful, and have substituted approaches they prefer, arrogantly denying users any choice.
Gmail doesn’t allow folders, only color-coded labels, as an organizing technique. It forces you to view all of your email in groups of related messages called “conversations,” instead of viewing them individually as they arrive. Other email programs also allow such grouped views, but they permit users to choose. Not Gmail, where “option” is a term too rarely employed, except in reference to employee compensation. (Yahoo plans to add an optional grouped view soon.)
…I’m sure Gmail will get better and better, and will eventually adopt the new programming techniques that allow desktop-like ease of use. But I’m not sure Google’s arrogance will ever make room for user preferences on things like folders or ads, or how emails are grouped.
Yahoo’s new email program would blow Gmail away if it were widely released today. That’s partly due to its features, but also to its respect for user choice.
Related posts:
I have gone to gmail and would prefer to have folders instead of their Labels and Conversations approach.
From reading this thread I decided to open a Yahoo acct to compare.
From using the free Yahoo!Mail, there are folders,(which Gmail should give you the option of using) but I have been able to use the Labels in Gmail virtually the same as folders.
But the major difference and THE reason I wouldn’t change to the free “Yahoo!Mail is that you have to put up with all the other “crap” on the page. Give me the drab, utilitarian look and feel of Gmail anyday! It appears the upgraded acct for $20/year frees you of the ads. But I don’t feel that I should pay $20/year just to not have a product piss me off.
I also find it very slow changing from one tab to the other and don’t feel the calendar is as good as the simple one I’m using now so it and the Notepad aren’t really selling features either.
Yahoo’s new email definitely didn’t “blow me away”.
<rant>
I can’t believe this! Is Mossberg actually arguing that Gmail should be less remarkable? That it should acquire the bland cruftiness of all the crappy email interfaces that have come before it and now fade in its massive wake? To what end? To make it completely irrelevant?
What’s next? Is he going to write that the iPod is too flashy? That it should be made of cheap black and silver plastic and have more buttons?
Gmail is a success because it is different. If you want the comfort of folders and hierarchy, there’s always Hotmail.
</rant>
Sorry, I just had to let that out.
Bob — You’re looking at the wrong Yahoo Mail. The beta version of Yahoo Mail is not yet publicly available, so you’re comparing Gmail to the old version of Yahoo.
No wonder! Up till now I have valued your opinion but this time I thought you were really out in left field. Glad to know it (probably) isn’t the case. Next time I’ll try to ensure I’m looking at the right product before commenting.
Bob
I will never understand why people want folders instead of labels.
Also, I hope that people realize that you can collapse individual emails in a GMail conversation thread?
The only real problem with Gmail is that they’ve been skipping on user suggestions that people really want, such as being able to merge and split conversation threads, allowing more filters, and going for mundane things like I18N support and advanced text editing (though Send As is very cool).
If you are a Blackberry user on T-Mobile, you will get your email pushed to you in real-time, starting on October 1st. I bet this will be true for other networks besides T-Mobile.
Read this: http://www.t-mobile.com/bisupgrade/
I was considering a switch to GMail, but this (and then new web mail interface) will keep me happy for a very long time.