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I use my own domain with fastmail, so if they were to fail, I could at least keep using the same address. Although I would need to find another provider that su

I use my own domain with fastmail, so if they were to fail, I could at least keep using the same address. Although I would need to find another provider that supports wildcard addresses going to the same inbox because I've found myself using the pattern companyname@ my domain for each business I give my email to. It makes it easy to block emails if a business doesn't let me unsubscribe or they share my email with spammers.

ajross 4y ago
You realize that "My Domain Got Stolen and the Registrar Won't Fix It" is another whole subgenre of this kind of anecdata, right? My point is just that there's no free lunch. Everything breaks, but on balance I'd trust Big Tech to get it right more than little companies like Fastmail or your domain registrar.
- KyleJune 4y ago
  OP's post isn't about his email or domain getting stolen, it's about him getting locked out of his account with no way to get back in. There are many different providers for both email and domains that provide good support. Sure it's possible I could still get locked out of either. I feel like smaller companies that I'm actually paying are more likely to be responsive to my issues than a large company that I'm using for free.
  - ajross 4y ago
    > I feel like smaller companies that I'm actually paying are more likely to be responsive to my issues than a large company that I'm using for free. "I feel like" is, precisely, the anecdata fallacy at work! You feel that way because you see so many more reports of problems with the big providers. The truth, obviously, is that account management problems like this are present everywhere[1], but the email (or domain) market is dominated by a small handful of players. So you think the tiny ones are better than they are. [1] Pointing out the pervasive complaints about domain registrars was supposed to drive this home. It's weird you think that somehow doesn't count. All bureaucracies mess up, it's not like email is a special kind of failure.
    - KyleJune 4y ago
      Yea, but there is another difference besides them being smaller. Email is fastmail's primary business. A domain registrars primary business is selling domains. So it's more risky for them to provide sub-par support compared to google where gmail is just one of the many things they do.
- jacob019 4y ago
  Whoa there, what reasoning leads you to believe that "Big Tech" is more trustwothy than "little companies"?
  - extasia 4y ago
    > small companies that I'm actually paying

ajross 4y ago

You realize that "My Domain Got Stolen and the Registrar Won't Fix It" is another whole subgenre of this kind of anecdata, right? My point is just that there's no free lunch. Everything breaks, but on balance I'd trust Big Tech to get it right more than little companies like Fastmail or your domain registrar.

KyleJune 4y ago
OP's post isn't about his email or domain getting stolen, it's about him getting locked out of his account with no way to get back in. There are many different providers for both email and domains that provide good support. Sure it's possible I could still get locked out of either. I feel like smaller companies that I'm actually paying are more likely to be responsive to my issues than a large company that I'm using for free.
- ajross 4y ago
  > I feel like smaller companies that I'm actually paying are more likely to be responsive to my issues than a large company that I'm using for free. "I feel like" is, precisely, the anecdata fallacy at work! You feel that way because you see so many more reports of problems with the big providers. The truth, obviously, is that account management problems like this are present everywhere[1], but the email (or domain) market is dominated by a small handful of players. So you think the tiny ones are better than they are. [1] Pointing out the pervasive complaints about domain registrars was supposed to drive this home. It's weird you think that somehow doesn't count. All bureaucracies mess up, it's not like email is a special kind of failure.
  - KyleJune 4y ago
    Yea, but there is another difference besides them being smaller. Email is fastmail's primary business. A domain registrars primary business is selling domains. So it's more risky for them to provide sub-par support compared to google where gmail is just one of the many things they do.
jacob019 4y ago
Whoa there, what reasoning leads you to believe that "Big Tech" is more trustwothy than "little companies"?
- extasia 4y ago
  > small companies that I'm actually paying