# This way, e-mail and all good things?



## aarhus2004 (Jan 10, 2004)

Last year I lost, for reasons of inactivity, a long-standing Hushmail account. I thought of it as my 'junk' e-mail account - if I needed to give an email address but wanted to protect my main ISP one I would use it. I had it seven years and the loss was my own fault. By way of a change, and since Hushmail was restrictive in several ways (storage and so on), I signed-up for Windows Live (Hotmail). Glitchy to begin with it settled down - until quite recently. I recall reading an article (don't ask me where!) that Microsoft was having problems with it but was claiming these were solved. I experienced none of those problems.

But about three weeks ago a problem arose for me which today has driven me to abandon the service. An *attached gif *shows what happened a few seconds after logging-on. The list of folders would disappear. And never re-appeared in the session.

Then this article appeared on the 28th Feb. *here*.

I have also read that Microsoft purchased Hotmail. A bafflement to me since MSN stands for Microsoft Network. It was originally MSN Hotmail, wasn't it?

Now I see the thread here about Microsoft and Yahoo. And in this mix is Google - somewhere, somehow. Gmail is Google isn't it? I suppose this is all going in only one direction; and, since we have had a marvelously free-run with this relatively baby-like WWW and e-mailing, I guess the free e-mail of the past will become a fond memory - i.e., it will have 'stamps required' before sending. We will be paying for it. So be it or, as our Oz friends may say, "fair-go mate".

My hand-writing is so out of practice, but if shove and push meet head-on and I find my needs financial can't run to e-mail costs but can to a bunch of those (50? cent) ever-lasting stamps (perhaps just a Canadian thingy), then my skills with the pen may return in due course. I mean do you you really like love-letters typed!!??

So it goes, don't you think?

Ben.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail are all free, so I'm not sure what your question is. The days of free e-mail certainly aren't coming to an end.

Hotmail has been provided by Microsoft for as long as I can remember, and GMail is a service offered by Google.


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## ekim68 (Jul 8, 2003)

I use several emails including gmail, which is ok by me...I have business and personal ones...


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