Fixing Gmail: How the Best Can Be Better
Gmail is the best Webmail client in the World. I get that. However, winning that contest is a bit like being named the “Most Talented Baldwin”. The competition is thin, to put it generously.
Sure, some people swear by Yahoo!’s mail offering. It is pretty and it does deal with some of the issues I address below, but it also doesn’t load on slower connections, has a terrible search function and can’t import email (seriously, are you THAT stupid Yahoo?). Compound that with no IMAP access and a paid account that doesn’t equal Gmail’s free offering, you have a rather distant second at best.
Outside of a few startups that are doing promising things with Web-based email, such as Zenbe, Gmail stands alone. There is no one out there that really competes with Gmail in this area. They were the first to introduce the super-sized mailbox for free, they were the first to use tags not folders on Webmail (Opera did it first in their mail client), they were the first to give free IMAP access and they were the first to actually put one iota of thought into usability.
But can it be better? Damn right. Nothing in the world is immune from improvement, except perhaps Joan Jett, so what can one do to make Gmail just a little more awesome? Here’s my pick of five things that can push it to eleven. Read more
My Top 5 Facebook Annoyances
I have to say, after using Facebook for a few weeks, the site has really grown on me. As a Myspace refugee, it seems to me that Facebook manages to be both more mature and lower drama than Myspace.
The inevitable conclusion I’ve reached is that, if you’re not a musician or under the age of sixteen, Myspace doesn’t have a lot for you. Facebook lets you make connections without going through all of the B.S. It’s a nice way to keep in touch without getting drowned in drama.
However, this is not to say that Facebook is perfect, far from it. Though I don’t hate the new layout, I’ve still managed to find a lot of things that annoy me endlessly.
So, before I go bald ripping my hair out, here are my top five Facebook annoyances in order of the number of “facepalms” they’ve caused. Read more
