Is it just me, or does it seem like Yahoo Mail is crashing/down at least once a week lately? It's not that I need constant access to my email, but these persistent crashes, system errors and downtimes at Yahoo are getting pretty frustrating - I want my mail when I want it.
Which makes me wonder why I continue to use Yahoo Mail. I began using Gmail in December, and opened a .Mac account (which I really never use) at the same time (not to mention my office email address which hasn't changed in three years). Either of these seem to work anytime I access them - wait, Gmail was down once about month ago - and they do the same job as Yahoo. Sometimes better.
Yahoo's spam filters can barely keep up, letting spam creep into my inbox daily. The new Yahoo mail interface isn't as good as Gmail's - or nearly as well integrated with sister applications like Calendar & Contacts & Apps (Office). And Yahoo's overall look, feel and presentation isn't as slick as .Mac. Overall, it's just not a very good email system when compared to the competition (free or otherwise).
I know that I continue with Yahoo Mail because I have used that address longer than any of the others - about 8 years, as opposed to 8 months. Parents and family have it memorized...Old friends I haven't talked to in years probably still have it stored somewhere... Getting rid of it now could mean I lose touch. Perish the thought.
But then again, in college and a few years after that, I changed my home address and phone number almost every year, and people still found me. Time to get rid of Yahoo and join the 21st Century?
Let me know what you think by email....send it to my gmail account.
it's not suboptimal, but just as an FYI: you can keep your @yahoo address while switching. for ~$20/yr Yahoo allows you to forward your email elsewhere. i've also had a Yahoo address forever, and i simply forward that over to Gmail transparently so that i can use the latter.
Posted by: stephen o'grady | August 19, 2007 at 06:06 PM