4 ms·

The real price isn't $20, it's the cost of everything you lose when the service shuts down

tptacek 4y ago
You mean, like every other service anybody stands up ever? The ones that charge money are the ones that stand any chance of surviving. https://archive.is/7LxAh https://archive.is/7LxAh
- Gigachad 4y ago
  The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing. Going with Gmail or a custom domain is a really safe bet. There is no way I’d use an email service that’s less than 10 years old now. My gmail account from when I was a kid is still active and working while most of the vanity/foss/privacy focused ones I signed up for have since died.
  - verrp 4y ago
    > The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing. aka the (postulated) Lindy Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
    - kortilla 4y ago
      Just a different way of looking at survivorship bias (“all of these old buildings were built really well!”).
  - speedyapoc 4y ago
    With the way Google and other providers have shutdown accounts with impunity, it’s hard to think of anything but a custom domain being a safe option.
    - IgorPartola 4y ago
      You can move a custom domain easily enough. I am about to do that to move away for the GSuite’s fees. Worst case, I’ll invest into running a service on my own. Best case, I’ll just use Proton or FastMail, etc. I guess registrars can go down too but it seems less likely.
  - ekianjo 4y ago
    > The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing horses for carriage seem to defy that kind of assumption Gotta love these kind of sayings that have virtually no connection with reality.
    - xeromal 4y ago
      Kind of a bad analogy because if Gmail is the horse, it can also become the carriage.
    - Gigachad 4y ago
      It’s a probability thing. Obviously everything old was once new. And everything dead was once old. But take any thing that exists right now and the most likely outcome is based on this rule. If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years? You can do this comparison for any two things where there is no inherent end date.
      - ekianjo 4y ago
        > If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years? That's a different thing altogether. Because it does not take in account market adoption. If C was a language on life-support with no major project using it, it could be as old as hell but I would not bet on it to be around and useful 10 years from now. Also, that saying is stupid because it makes it look like you can predict the future of technologies by using a single factor, while reality a rich, multi-dimensional set of problems.
    - Ferret7446 4y ago
      On the contrary, it is solidly rooted in math. On average, and without other context, a random sample will be close to the middle. Given a random sample of any thing at an arbitrary point in time, on average it will be in the middle of its lifetime. Something that is X years old will on average, continue for X more years. Of course, additional information lets you refine that estimate considerably, but it is mathematically sound and surprisingly applicable to everyday life (e.g. using a single serial number on a product to estimate total production).
  - pishpash 4y ago
    Gmail isn't old enough. Go back another generation, AOL, Yahoo mail, etc. Best bet is probably some university email address. Now those are long-lived, if they let you keep it.
- the-printer 4y ago
  There is a sad irony behind that link…If I had to pay for bookmark management, it’d be Pinboard. What are the advantages?
- fareesh 4y ago
  I'm generally in favor of owning your data and domains so yes. There is so much good open source stuff now. It's unlikely that Gmail will shut down though so there are a lot of reliable exceptions
- jug 4y ago
  I agree. I trust this one more than if Google would launch a free, customizable "start page" service like it. They're killing their free services like no tomorrow.
panphora 4y ago
Sir, this is not a Google-branded service, nothing to worry about.
- oefrha 4y ago
  The average Google-branded service lasts way longer than the average ShowHN, memes be damned.
  - tsycho 4y ago
    And offers a generous notice period, and data transition options, when it shut downs. To be fair, this should be what to expect from any large corporation, but sadly, many don't.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

You mean, like every other service anybody stands up ever? The ones that charge money are the ones that stand any chance of surviving. https://archive.is/7LxAh https://archive.is/7LxAh

Gigachad 4y ago
The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing. Going with Gmail or a custom domain is a really safe bet. There is no way I’d use an email service that’s less than 10 years old now. My gmail account from when I was a kid is still active and working while most of the vanity/foss/privacy focused ones I signed up for have since died.
- verrp 4y ago
  > The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing. aka the (postulated) Lindy Effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
  - kortilla 4y ago
    Just a different way of looking at survivorship bias (“all of these old buildings were built really well!”).
- speedyapoc 4y ago
  With the way Google and other providers have shutdown accounts with impunity, it’s hard to think of anything but a custom domain being a safe option.
  - IgorPartola 4y ago
    You can move a custom domain easily enough. I am about to do that to move away for the GSuite’s fees. Worst case, I’ll invest into running a service on my own. Best case, I’ll just use Proton or FastMail, etc. I guess registrars can go down too but it seems less likely.
- ekianjo 4y ago
  > The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing horses for carriage seem to defy that kind of assumption Gotta love these kind of sayings that have virtually no connection with reality.
  - xeromal 4y ago
    Kind of a bad analogy because if Gmail is the horse, it can also become the carriage.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    It’s a probability thing. Obviously everything old was once new. And everything dead was once old. But take any thing that exists right now and the most likely outcome is based on this rule. If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years? You can do this comparison for any two things where there is no inherent end date.
    - ekianjo 4y ago
      > If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years? That's a different thing altogether. Because it does not take in account market adoption. If C was a language on life-support with no major project using it, it could be as old as hell but I would not bet on it to be around and useful 10 years from now. Also, that saying is stupid because it makes it look like you can predict the future of technologies by using a single factor, while reality a rich, multi-dimensional set of problems.
  - Ferret7446 4y ago
    On the contrary, it is solidly rooted in math. On average, and without other context, a random sample will be close to the middle. Given a random sample of any thing at an arbitrary point in time, on average it will be in the middle of its lifetime. Something that is X years old will on average, continue for X more years. Of course, additional information lets you refine that estimate considerably, but it is mathematically sound and surprisingly applicable to everyday life (e.g. using a single serial number on a product to estimate total production).
- pishpash 4y ago
  Gmail isn't old enough. Go back another generation, AOL, Yahoo mail, etc. Best bet is probably some university email address. Now those are long-lived, if they let you keep it.
the-printer 4y ago
There is a sad irony behind that link…If I had to pay for bookmark management, it’d be Pinboard. What are the advantages?
fareesh 4y ago
I'm generally in favor of owning your data and domains so yes. There is so much good open source stuff now. It's unlikely that Gmail will shut down though so there are a lot of reliable exceptions
jug 4y ago
I agree. I trust this one more than if Google would launch a free, customizable "start page" service like it. They're killing their free services like no tomorrow.

panphora 4y ago

Sir, this is not a Google-branded service, nothing to worry about.

oefrha 4y ago
The average Google-branded service lasts way longer than the average ShowHN, memes be damned.
- tsycho 4y ago
  And offers a generous notice period, and data transition options, when it shut downs. To be fair, this should be what to expect from any large corporation, but sadly, many don't.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]