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They're certainly trying, but they aren't as good at it as MS was. Linux still exists, and Android hasn't harmed it at all. No extinguish here at all. GMail

They're certainly trying, but they aren't as good at it as MS was. Linux still exists, and Android hasn't harmed it at all. No extinguish here at all. GMail is definitely making all other email providers and clients look bad. It's basically done as much extinguishing as it can, though. People have reasons not to use it, and I don't see them overcoming them now. And it's a miracle that other browsers still exist. Sheer tenacity keeps Firefox alive at this point, yet somehow they're making it work. And Safari only exists because of an OS-monopoly.

cube00 5y ago
It'll probably need to be a generational thing to overcome Google's tentacles. My parents are stuck on their ISP's email, I was stuck on GMail (but fighting to get out). Anyone I warn about Google's lockout horror stories think it won't happen to them because they're playing by the terms of service. The next generation will hopefully be on their own personal domains as we should have been from the beginning. I'll admit I used think, "I'm saving $10 a year not paying for a domain, I'm a thrift genius!"
- Gareth321 5y ago
  >My parents are stuck on their ISP's email, I was stuck on GMail (but fighting to get out). Anyone I warn about Google's lockout horror stories think it won't happen to them because they're playing by the terms of service. I regale everyone I know with Google lockout horror stories in the vain hope that they will switch. No one ever does. I've spent the last year migrating services from my Gmail account to my personal domain, but it's a huge PITA, and I feel like I'm only 30% there. The only thing which keeps me going is the sinking feeling in my stomach I get when I imagine how fucked I would be if I lost access to my email address. It's still not turnkey enough to buy a domain and use an email provider. There are multiple gates to climb through and they are often technical in nature. Just trying to understand how a domain works, where to buy it, how to host it, and how to plug that into an email provider is beyond 95% of the public. There needs to be some better vertical integration, but as it stands, the best domain marketplaces and hosts are not the best email providers, and vice versa.
- Bilal_io 5y ago
  What I would love to see in the future is for email addresses to be like phone numbers, they transfer with you as you move to different email providers along with your data. Whether you're using a public domain or your own custom domain. It would be nice to start by finding a way to allow email@domain.xyz ownership in a decentralized way.
Calavar 5y ago
Their goal was bever to extinguish Linux. Free and open Linux is critical to their business model because it is the infrastructure behind the third party sites where they sell ads and insert their trackers. Their goal was to extinguish the nascent community of free and open phone OSs, thereby making themselves a duopoly with iOS, a task which they executed to perfection.

cube00 5y ago

It'll probably need to be a generational thing to overcome Google's tentacles. My parents are stuck on their ISP's email, I was stuck on GMail (but fighting to get out). Anyone I warn about Google's lockout horror stories think it won't happen to them because they're playing by the terms of service. The next generation will hopefully be on their own personal domains as we should have been from the beginning. I'll admit I used think, "I'm saving $10 a year not paying for a domain, I'm a thrift genius!"

Gareth321 5y ago
>My parents are stuck on their ISP's email, I was stuck on GMail (but fighting to get out). Anyone I warn about Google's lockout horror stories think it won't happen to them because they're playing by the terms of service. I regale everyone I know with Google lockout horror stories in the vain hope that they will switch. No one ever does. I've spent the last year migrating services from my Gmail account to my personal domain, but it's a huge PITA, and I feel like I'm only 30% there. The only thing which keeps me going is the sinking feeling in my stomach I get when I imagine how fucked I would be if I lost access to my email address. It's still not turnkey enough to buy a domain and use an email provider. There are multiple gates to climb through and they are often technical in nature. Just trying to understand how a domain works, where to buy it, how to host it, and how to plug that into an email provider is beyond 95% of the public. There needs to be some better vertical integration, but as it stands, the best domain marketplaces and hosts are not the best email providers, and vice versa.
Bilal_io 5y ago
What I would love to see in the future is for email addresses to be like phone numbers, they transfer with you as you move to different email providers along with your data. Whether you're using a public domain or your own custom domain. It would be nice to start by finding a way to allow email@domain.xyz ownership in a decentralized way.

Calavar 5y ago

Their goal was bever to extinguish Linux. Free and open Linux is critical to their business model because it is the infrastructure behind the third party sites where they sell ads and insert their trackers. Their goal was to extinguish the nascent community of free and open phone OSs, thereby making themselves a duopoly with iOS, a task which they executed to perfection.