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I wonder why everyone seems to be using Gmail. Nobody I know (mostly in Germany) really uses a Gmail-address except for registering their Android device. Why i

I wonder why everyone seems to be using Gmail. Nobody I know (mostly in Germany) really uses a Gmail-address except for registering their Android device. Why is it so popular elsewhere?

skybrian 7y ago
It's free, easy to use, and normally fast and reliable. What's popular in Germany?
- martin_a 7y ago
  Probably anything else. GMX, web.de, T-Online are the biggest that come to my mind. They offer free mailboxes just like Gmail does, but are here since the early day. I think I registered with GMX in something like 2000 or so. If Telekom/T-Mobile/T-Online is your internet provider, you'll automatically have a mailbox with them, too. Some people use it, some don't, I think it's most often ease of use and installation so it's popular with older people or small companies.
- copperx 7y ago
  I am curious too about what's popular in Germany. I hope it's something better than ISP-provided emails.
  - martin_a 7y ago
    As mentioned above, we have several services for free mailboxes. Obviously you can have a @t-online.de address, not only if you are a customer of the Magenta giant. Wikipedia lists some [1] providers and I think I have seen addresses from all of those providers in the wild or my mailbox. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemail https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemail
tssva 7y ago
Why do people in Germany unnecessarily use a Gmail address to register their Android devices?
- probably_wrong 7y ago
  Dark pattern. You can register an Android device with a non-Gmail address if you know what you're doing, but that's not where the UI takes you by default.
  - tssva 7y ago
    My parents, both in their 80s, figured out how to create a Google account without using a non-Gmail address so I find the idea that it is somehow difficult hard to accept.
- martin_a 7y ago
  Lazyness or not knowing better and probably because Google will make it very easy to set this address up when activating your phone. But most people will then install the mailbox app from their provider and just use that.
usr1106 7y ago
For historical reasons Germans understand better than many others that big brother is a bad thing. Firefox has a bigger market share in Germany than many other countries. Germans were so much against Google streetview that Google gave up and has never rolled it out to anywhere else than a couple of pilot regions. Many people seem to use startpage for web search. In Berlin local activists hindered Google from opening a new office. So not using gmail is just in line. Disclaimer: I am German but haven't lived there for decades and wonder why in other countries many people still seem to like Google.

I wonder why everyone seems to be using Gmail. Nobody I know (mostly in Germany) really uses a Gmail-address except for registering their Android device. Why is it so popular elsewhere?

skybrian 7y ago

It's free, easy to use, and normally fast and reliable. What's popular in Germany?

martin_a 7y ago
Probably anything else. GMX, web.de, T-Online are the biggest that come to my mind. They offer free mailboxes just like Gmail does, but are here since the early day. I think I registered with GMX in something like 2000 or so. If Telekom/T-Mobile/T-Online is your internet provider, you'll automatically have a mailbox with them, too. Some people use it, some don't, I think it's most often ease of use and installation so it's popular with older people or small companies.
copperx 7y ago
I am curious too about what's popular in Germany. I hope it's something better than ISP-provided emails.
- martin_a 7y ago
  As mentioned above, we have several services for free mailboxes. Obviously you can have a @t-online.de address, not only if you are a customer of the Magenta giant. Wikipedia lists some [1] providers and I think I have seen addresses from all of those providers in the wild or my mailbox. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemail https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemail

tssva 7y ago

Why do people in Germany unnecessarily use a Gmail address to register their Android devices?

probably_wrong 7y ago
Dark pattern. You can register an Android device with a non-Gmail address if you know what you're doing, but that's not where the UI takes you by default.
- tssva 7y ago
  My parents, both in their 80s, figured out how to create a Google account without using a non-Gmail address so I find the idea that it is somehow difficult hard to accept.
martin_a 7y ago
Lazyness or not knowing better and probably because Google will make it very easy to set this address up when activating your phone. But most people will then install the mailbox app from their provider and just use that.

usr1106 7y ago

For historical reasons Germans understand better than many others that big brother is a bad thing. Firefox has a bigger market share in Germany than many other countries. Germans were so much against Google streetview that Google gave up and has never rolled it out to anywhere else than a couple of pilot regions. Many people seem to use startpage for web search. In Berlin local activists hindered Google from opening a new office. So not using gmail is just in line. Disclaimer: I am German but haven't lived there for decades and wonder why in other countries many people still seem to like Google.