Taking the Plunge into Gmail

A couple of weeks back, the esteemed Dean Ouellette asked on Facebook whether folks were using Gmail or MSN. Being the technological luddite that I can be at times, I asked what the big deal was about Gmail. After all, I had Windows Mail on my laptop, and all was well in the universe.

Granted, if I had to scan something, that file would populate on my desktop, and I’d then have to move it onto the laptop via my home network. And for reasons unknown, I wouldn’t take the laptop off my kitchen table, so I’d have to walk back across the house to get the file and email it to whomever might be waiting for it.

Rube Goldberg had nothing on me, I’ll tell you. But it worked. Or at least, until my laptop hard drive decided it was calling it quits.

Fortunately I had warning, which gave me time to get my email accounts set up on Gmail and to get my data moved over to the desktop. (Which itself had been in the shop two weeks earlier after a virus turned the hard drive into a doorstop. But I digress.)

Like the guy emerging from under the rock in the Geico commercial, I’ve discovered how much easier life is with Gmail. I’m sure I’m not using it to its full capabilities, and I still find the system of folders a bit clunky compared to Windows Mail. Tips always are welcome in that regard.

But if nothing else, being able to access my email from anywhere has been very, very welcome.

Perhaps I should listen to other people a little more often.

Tags: gmail