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Inbox. Sigh, it really feels like inbox users were sold a bill of goods by the CEO of Google (https://gmail.googleblog.com/2014/10/an-inbox-that-works-for-you.h

Inbox. Sigh, it really feels like inbox users were sold a bill of goods by the CEO of Google (https://gmail.googleblog.com/2014/10/an-inbox-that-works-for-you.html https://gmail.googleblog.com/2014/10/an-inbox-that-works-for...) and for five years with no directive otherwise, most of us committed to a product that certainly wasn't free (my data is for sale because I used this tool). Today, I open their app which my data paid for and I'm greeted with a giant middle finger. Something seems wrong. Some random PM didn't promise me this product. The CEO did. This relationship with a giant service provider (Google) feels more like the relationship I loathe with the average monopolizing telecom. I've been taken advantage of and my commitment in the end to this, as I learn, unclear experiment has generated enormous benefits for Google and today results in a frustrating realisation that I wasted my time trying for years to make it work. One day, I really do hope there's a way I can take my email address and leave Google. Number portability deserves an analog in the email world.

jodrellblank 8y ago
One day, I really do hope there's a way I can take my email address and leave Google. Number portability deserves an analog in the email world. It has one; register your own domain, then you can move it to any registrar and provider you like. The analog going the other way would be if you took a Google desk phone number where people had to dial Google's offices into their phone system and then dial your extension, and you wanted to take your (Google office + extension) number elsewhere. That kind of service doesn't exist in the phone number portability world either.
- aliljet 8y ago
  The problem? I've got an address under Google's gmail domain that's extremely broadly attached to my identity. Rest assured, I now regret having my identity attached to some corporation, but myself and probably millions of others are sitting in the same boat...
  - gregknicholson 8y ago
    Register a domain you like and start the transition now. It doesn't have to be quick. Gmail has an option to forward all incoming mail to another address, so when you do eventually leave you won't miss any mail.

jodrellblank 8y ago

One day, I really do hope there's a way I can take my email address and leave Google. Number portability deserves an analog in the email world. It has one; register your own domain, then you can move it to any registrar and provider you like. The analog going the other way would be if you took a Google desk phone number where people had to dial Google's offices into their phone system and then dial your extension, and you wanted to take your (Google office + extension) number elsewhere. That kind of service doesn't exist in the phone number portability world either.

aliljet 8y ago
The problem? I've got an address under Google's gmail domain that's extremely broadly attached to my identity. Rest assured, I now regret having my identity attached to some corporation, but myself and probably millions of others are sitting in the same boat...
- gregknicholson 8y ago
  Register a domain you like and start the transition now. It doesn't have to be quick. Gmail has an option to forward all incoming mail to another address, so when you do eventually leave you won't miss any mail.