Gmail: Explained

The latest trend to sweep through the email world is Gmail, the free email service provided by Google. It seems to be able to do everything but slice bread, and if you talk to certain tech-minded young people, I'm sure they'll tell you that there's a feature that delivers homemade-sliced bread to your door.*

*Not an actual feature.

However, there's no denying that Gmail is huge, and it is becoming more popular by the day. In this post, I'll explain what Gmail is, what makes it so special, and I'll touch on some of Gmail's pitfalls.

WHAT IS GMAIL?

Gmail is an email website. It's similar to hotmail.com or AOL, because both of these places let you make a username for yourself (ie, CivilizedEngineer) and then it gives you an email address, something like CivilizedEngineer@email.com.*

Gmail is accessible through the website http://www.gmail.com. Because it's website-accessible, you can get into your Gmail account from any device that allows you on the internet. So you can access it at work, or at home, or from your iPhone or Blackberry or Palm Pilot. One day, when I am rich, I will be able to write a post on how awesome an iPhone is, and I will mention how much I love reading my email from my phone. However, my lack of bitchin' phone is not the point of this post, so we'll just move on.

WHY IS GMAIL SO SPECIAL?

Gmail has some features that are really unique and interesting. Some of the most popular features are G-Chat, Archiving and Labels. One at a time, shall we?

1. G Chat
Have you ever heard of instant messaging? The idea behind it is that I can have a conversation online with someone else who is also online. I would type, "hey." A window would pop up on the other person's screen. "CivilizedEngineer says: Hey." They could type back, "Oh, hey. What's up?" and so on and so forth. Well, G Chat does that, too. When you open your inbox, there is a list on the left side that keeps track of the email addresses you frequently use. If those people use gmail, then there is a little circle next to their name. If it's green, they're checking their gmail at that very moment. If you hover your mouse over their name, a little menu pops up. Click the "chat" button, and a little chat window appears in the lower right! Poof, you can talk to that person via G Chat. It's a lot faster that email, and Gmail will automatically keep all your conversations stored for you in case you want to re-read them later. Pretty neat, eh? Here's a screenshot of G Chat in action. (By the way, this is NOT my inbox.)

The three blue windows (and, randomly, one orange window) at the bottom are G Chat windows.

2. Archiving

This feature is sort of like... email purgatory. If you don't want an email cluttering up your inbox, but you're just not ready to delete it, Archive it! When you search your mail for a certain phrase or date, Archived emails will still show up. And you can access Archived emails. They're just not in your Inbox, sucking up space that could be used by more important messages.

3. Labels

Gmail does not use folders. If you keep all your emails from your boss & coworkers in a folder called "Work Emails," that's great. However, like I said, no folders in Gmail. They use Labels. I know, this sounds weird. "Why don't they just use folders? I love folders. They reduce the clutter in my inbox and I stay organized, it's great. GIVE ME FOLDERS."

Don't worry, I thought that too. Stick with me though- Labels are pretty cool.

So, let's say your boss sends you an email. You want to organize it. On the left sidebar, scroll down to see "Labels" and then click on "edit Labels." Make a Label name- i.e., "Work Emails." Then, open up this email from your boss. On the top of the email, there's a little tool bar. Select "More Actions," and under the "Apply Label" header should be "Work Emails." Select this Label, and poof! That email is forever designated a Work Email. (I know that explanation was long, but trust me- Labels are worth the initial confusion.)

You can apply more than one Label at a time. Labels are great because even Archived emails can be Labeled, and you will always be able to find them by clicking on that Label in the overall sidebar on the left. It's not a folder, but it works just like one.

THE PITFALLS OF GMAIL

There is a really interesting anecdote about gmail that comes from my sister. Last summer, I sent her an email asking her if she wanted to come to a Tigers baseball game with me. My sister loves Google, and the host of programs that go with it. For example, she uses Google Calendar to keep herself organized. After she got my email, she responded something like, "sounds good, I'll call you tomorrow." The next time she logged onto Google Calendar, it asked her "Would You Like To Add This Tigers Game To Your Calendar?" She had not prompted it to do this, Google Calendar did this automatically.

The obvious conclusion here is, "Google" reads your mail on some level. No person is sitting at a computer, reading your mail as it comes in. That's not what I meant by "Google." No, I meant that a computer run by Google is processing your mail as it comes in to customize ads and encourage cross-usage between different Google products. The official policy from the Google gmail privacy page is that "The Gmail service includes relevant advertising and related links based on the IP address, content of messages and other information related to your use of Gmail." (Bold added for emphasis.)

Also, because Google mail is different from other mail services, the features can be strange at first. Google is constantly coming up with new free services for users, and these can be weird to work with for a while.

However, I am confident that you will be able to use gmail confidently and effectivly if you stick with it for a couple of days. It really is a great program, and I highly recommend looking around Google for other programs to use. This blog is a product of Google software- I use blogger.com to write it. And really, isn't that the ultimate endorsement? My endorsement? I thought so, too.