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> All my emails, all my documents saved in Google Drive. I would think someone whose business depends on gmail would use an email client, at least periodically

> All my emails, all my documents saved in Google Drive. I would think someone whose business depends on gmail would use an email client, at least periodically, to download their emails.

hsbauauvhabzb 7mo ago
What an arrogant response. Do you think the average user understands where emails are stored or that google could rugpull at any moment?
- apparent 7mo ago
  Even just for offline access when on airplanes, when the internet/power is out. It's not just about rugpulls. Honestly it's a bit insulting to non-HN people to assume that they'd never want offline access or realize that having a single point of failure is a bad idea.
  - hsbauauvhabzb 7mo ago
    It’s reasonable to assume that a subset of the population thinks of these things. It is not unreasonable to assume that >50% of Gmail users have never considered it.
    - apparent 7mo ago
      I didn't say anything about all or most gmail users. I specifically referred to a person who relies on gmail for his business, and who is apparently screwed without access to it. People who run businesses think through their risk exposure in general, and they get things like key man insurance policies to mitigate risks related to single points of failure. Anyone thinking through such things would realize that an email provider is a single point of failure. Completely aside from strategic business planning, plenty of people realize that gmail doesn't provide offline access. It's obvious if you try to get into your email when you're not online. This is not the sole province of experts.
      - hsbauauvhabzb 7mo ago
        I doubt every small business manager considers ‘what’s happens if I lose my gmail’, there are plenty of trades so far detached from email where that would be the case. I doubt many plumbers are checking their business email while flying, either.
kulahan 7mo ago
Why? You're going to reference them from Google Drive. Google has 400 trillion gazillion servers with copies of it. There's no way you can lose it! You wouldn't do anything weird, so there's absolutely no reason to think you'd lose your account. And honestly, we're all humans here - surely you can reach out to a company as large as Google and speak to a human if there's an issue this significant. Another consideration: kids do not have the ability to think ahead and consider future consequences. It's one of the last functions of the brain to develop, and it doesn't fully complete until, often, you've already finished college. Looking through the comments in the reddit thread, it appears the daughter had her dissertation on her google drive and lost it despite having done nothing wrong herself. And just the final point I want to drive home: these people lost their google accounts because of what someone else did. Nobody thinks ahead to account for something like that. At what point are we going to start looking at digital mail the same way we do physical mail? It's equally as important today. It needs protections, regulations, and oversight.
- apparent 7mo ago
  Even if you don't think you're at risk of permanently losing access, you would want to have access during power outages or other internet outages. Or even just when you're on a plane and want to look up an old email.
- Hizonner 7mo ago
  Yes, they should be regulated. Or more likely outright shut down. Nonetheless, at the moment, it's a real risk, and plenty of people do in fact think ahead and not make themselves dependent on those services. > kids do not have the ability to think ahead and consider future consequences. It's one of the last functions of the brain to develop, and it doesn't fully complete until, often, you've already finished college. Please stop posting kindergarten-level distortions of neuroscience. It burns.
  - kulahan 7mo ago
    >Please stop posting kindergarten-level distortions of neuroscience. It burns. Simply denying things doesn't make them untrue. Please don't do this. It burns.
piyh 7mo ago
https://xkcd.com/2501/ https://xkcd.com/2501/

> All my emails, all my documents saved in Google Drive. I would think someone whose business depends on gmail would use an email client, at least periodically, to download their emails.

hsbauauvhabzb 7mo ago

What an arrogant response. Do you think the average user understands where emails are stored or that google could rugpull at any moment?

apparent 7mo ago
Even just for offline access when on airplanes, when the internet/power is out. It's not just about rugpulls. Honestly it's a bit insulting to non-HN people to assume that they'd never want offline access or realize that having a single point of failure is a bad idea.
- hsbauauvhabzb 7mo ago
  It’s reasonable to assume that a subset of the population thinks of these things. It is not unreasonable to assume that >50% of Gmail users have never considered it.
  - apparent 7mo ago
    I didn't say anything about all or most gmail users. I specifically referred to a person who relies on gmail for his business, and who is apparently screwed without access to it. People who run businesses think through their risk exposure in general, and they get things like key man insurance policies to mitigate risks related to single points of failure. Anyone thinking through such things would realize that an email provider is a single point of failure. Completely aside from strategic business planning, plenty of people realize that gmail doesn't provide offline access. It's obvious if you try to get into your email when you're not online. This is not the sole province of experts.
    - hsbauauvhabzb 7mo ago
      I doubt every small business manager considers ‘what’s happens if I lose my gmail’, there are plenty of trades so far detached from email where that would be the case. I doubt many plumbers are checking their business email while flying, either.

kulahan 7mo ago

Why? You're going to reference them from Google Drive. Google has 400 trillion gazillion servers with copies of it. There's no way you can lose it! You wouldn't do anything weird, so there's absolutely no reason to think you'd lose your account. And honestly, we're all humans here - surely you can reach out to a company as large as Google and speak to a human if there's an issue this significant. Another consideration: kids do not have the ability to think ahead and consider future consequences. It's one of the last functions of the brain to develop, and it doesn't fully complete until, often, you've already finished college. Looking through the comments in the reddit thread, it appears the daughter had her dissertation on her google drive and lost it despite having done nothing wrong herself. And just the final point I want to drive home: these people lost their google accounts because of what someone else did. Nobody thinks ahead to account for something like that. At what point are we going to start looking at digital mail the same way we do physical mail? It's equally as important today. It needs protections, regulations, and oversight.

apparent 7mo ago
Even if you don't think you're at risk of permanently losing access, you would want to have access during power outages or other internet outages. Or even just when you're on a plane and want to look up an old email.
Hizonner 7mo ago
Yes, they should be regulated. Or more likely outright shut down. Nonetheless, at the moment, it's a real risk, and plenty of people do in fact think ahead and not make themselves dependent on those services. > kids do not have the ability to think ahead and consider future consequences. It's one of the last functions of the brain to develop, and it doesn't fully complete until, often, you've already finished college. Please stop posting kindergarten-level distortions of neuroscience. It burns.
- kulahan 7mo ago
  >Please stop posting kindergarten-level distortions of neuroscience. It burns. Simply denying things doesn't make them untrue. Please don't do this. It burns.

piyh 7mo ago

https://xkcd.com/2501/ https://xkcd.com/2501/