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Completely random and stupid question...

Y

Yumunum

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 24, 2011
1,452
0
U.S.
Feel free to overthink it.

Right now my Gmail email address is firstname.lastname@gmail.com

When I can make an iCloud account, I'm going to switch to use iCloud email, and I can't decide what my email should be. firstname.lastname@me.com? lastname.firstname@me.com? firstname.lastinitial@me.com? The list goes on...

What would be considered more "professional"? What do most people do when their email is their name? And yes I realize having "@me.com" at the end doesn't seem that professional already, but that's unavoidable :p

I expect lots of hate and jabs at my maturity because of this. lol.
 
i have since 20 years the same email addresses
first name . initial of second name . last name . me.com is what i would choose
 
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Personally, I've always used 'firstinitiallastname@domain.com', I also like 'firstnamelastname@domain.com'. Not too crazy about the periods in between.
 
ann713 said:
Personally, I've always used 'firstinitiallastname@domain.com', I also like 'firstnamelastname@domain.com'. Not too crazy about the periods in between.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that. I'm debating whether I should have periods in it or not, too... But it looks like it's more common to have the period, so perhaps it'll stay
 
Mine is lastnamefirstinitial@domain.net

So, if your name is John Dough, it would be doughj@domain.net

And as far as professionalism, from 1-4 it goes from most professional to least professional.

1.) Your own domain name.
2.) ISP domain name (Comcast, att, etc.)
3.) Apple domain name
4.) web mail domain (gmail, etc.)

That's my opinion. Whenever I see someone with a webmail domain I just don't think it's as professional. It feels too easily-gettable in that anyone can just create an account online with Gmail with no effort. At least with an ISP, you have to subscribe to to their service (same goes for Apple). And if you have your own domain name that comes across as the most professional.
 
applefan289 said:
Mine is lastnamefirstinitial@domain.net

So, if your name is John Dough, it would be doughj@domain.net

And as far as professionalism, from 1-4 it goes from most professional to least professional.

1.) Your own domain name.
2.) ISP domain name (Comcast, att, etc.)
3.) Apple domain name
4.) web mail domain (gmail, etc.)

That's my opinion. Whenever I see someone with a webmail domain I just don't think it's as professional. It feels too easily-gettable in that anyone can just create an account online with Gmail with no effort. At least with an ISP, you have to subscribe to to their service (same goes for Apple). And if you have your own domain name that comes across as the most professional.
Click to expand...

How on earth is the Apple web mail domain any more professional? Especially if it's going to be free with iCloud? Then it's just like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail.
 
yg17 said:
How on earth is the Apple web mail domain any more professional? Especially if it's going to be free with iCloud? Then it's just like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail.
Click to expand...

True, but less people seem to have it. But yeah, you're technically right on that.
 
applefan289 said:
1.) Your own domain name.
2.) ISP domain name (Comcast, att, etc.)
3.) Apple domain name
4.) web mail domain (gmail, etc.)
Click to expand...

Here's an updated list:

1. Your own domain name
2. Apple/Gmail
3. Hotmail, ISP, Yahoo etc.

Why is Apple and Gmail at number two you ask? Because they're sleeker, and those who use them will have cloud services at their disposal.

Yahoo and Hotmail don't even need a comment. And I think people who use their ISP emails in this day are a bit stupid.. you move house, you change ISP, what happens?
 
garybUK said:
ilove.megatron@gmx.de
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This would be my first pick, but if it's already taken, then I personally like first initial + lastname (like my username here is mkrishnan).

I guess if you're giving someone your name over the phone anyway, at that point, your e-mail address isn't any harder, but occasionally, it's nice to have an e-mail address that is as much on the other shorter side as possible. Otherwise first.last@ is good too.... I don't see any huge advantage in other permutations of first/last.
 
For my "official" mail, I use the first syllables of my first, second and last name. Say, my full name was Miles Daniel Rule it would be midaru@me.com. It sounds like an odd nickname but it's easy to figure out or remember if you know "the code" without being too obvious like miles.d.rule@me.com, especially if you have a generic name.
 
Kilamite said:
Here's an updated list:

1. Your own domain name
2. Apple/Gmail
3. Hotmail, ISP, Yahoo etc.

Why is Apple and Gmail at number two you ask? Because they're sleeker, and those who use them will have cloud services at their disposal.

Yahoo and Hotmail don't even need a comment. And I think people who use their ISP emails in this day are a bit stupid.. you move house, you change ISP, what happens?
Click to expand...

There's just something about using the email address from the people you pay $100+ a month for. I tend to like using the email from the ISP because I'm subscribing to them. There's nothing technically superior, but I think it's better than going through a third party (like Google or Apple). Plus, I like @comcast.net better than @me.com or @gmail.com. It tells the world I'm using Comcast as my ISP rather than having a third party email that practically everyone and their momma uses (Gmail).

Apple is in a separate category, because less people use it than Gmail, and Apple tends to have a high quality impression. But I still feel using an @me.com email is under an ISP email domain name in my list.

If I had to recreate the list, it would be like this:

1.) ISP domain (att.net, comcast.net, verizon.net, bellsouth.net, etc.)/custom domain name
2.) Web mail in general (Gmail, etc.). Apple counts in this category but comes across more wholesome.

I'm going to get flamed for this (and most definitely a thumbs down), but it's just my opinion.
 
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I don't think too highly of ISP addresses, because if you change ISPs, you lose your e-mail address. Someone with a Gmail or other web based address has at least given their e-mail service of choice some thought. When I think of ISP addresses, I think of someone like my 94 year old grandfather who is too computer illiterate to get a Gmail address and uses the ISP address because that's what's fed to them by their ISP's god awful customized IE browser with 47 toolbars.
 
yg17 said:
I don't think too highly of ISP addresses, because if you change ISPs, you lose your e-mail address. Someone with a Gmail or other web based address has at least given their e-mail service of choice some thought. When I think of ISP addresses, I think of someone like my 94 year old grandfather who is too computer illiterate to get a Gmail address and uses the ISP address because that's what's fed to them by their ISP's god awful customized IE browser with 47 toolbars.
Click to expand...

I guess I just feel more legitimate using the ISP's email. Web-based mail seems more sloppy and fly-by-night. It also seems less "strong" and more "hackable" because it's primarily web-based.

I guess it's all about opinion and impression. I get a better impression when I see an email come in from an ISP domain. I get a worse impression when I see an email come in from a Gmail domain. The ISP email seems more legitimate and authentic.
 
applefan289 said:
I guess I just feel more legitimate using the ISP's email. Web-based mail seems more sloppy and fly-by-night. It also seems less "strong" and more "hackable" because it's primarily web-based.

I guess it's all about opinion and impression. I get a better impression when I see an email come in from an ISP domain. I get a worse impression when I see an email come in from a Gmail domain. The ISP email seems more legitimate and authentic.
Click to expand...

ISP e-mail is web based. AT&T provides me with an @att.net e-mail address (which I don't use), but it's through Yahoo. You log in at Yahoo, it's their interface, etc. It's completely web based.
 
yg17 said:
ISP e-mail is web based. AT&T provides me with an @att.net e-mail address (which I don't use), but it's through Yahoo. You log in at Yahoo, it's their interface, etc. It's completely web based.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and Comcast has an online email list too.

So, all emails are web-based. :)

In that case, I prefer an ISP domain. ;)
 
anjinha said:
get a different ISP?
Click to expand...

Like I'll ever do that.

I'll have to make sure they offer the Comcast triple play before I move.

Internet is too important for me to switch to an ISP I don't like as much. Comcast is the best one for now. And don't get into FiOS because I haven't met in my area anyone with FiOS and the availability seems very limited. Not only that, I love the Comcast DTAs. One thing that I dislike about DirecTV, U-verse, FiOS, etc. is that you have to have a set top box for every TV. Comcast has DTAs for TVs that are not primary. This is a must if you want to have three TVs connected without having to pay the price of a STB for every TV.
 
applefan289 said:
Like I'll ever do that.
Click to expand...

Never say never.
In 2002 I thought Freeserve was the best ISP ever and never wanted to switch.
In 2004 I saw Pipex and thought, "whoa dude these guys are getting my money"
In 2006 I saw BT and thought, well, they are the network providers for our country (haven't switched since then but you get the idea). Thankfully they upped their networks to Infinity around here. I'm tempted to switch to Virgin though.
 
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Never say never.
In 2002 I thought Freeserve was the best ISP ever and never wanted to switch.
In 2004 I saw Pipex and thought, "whoa dude these guys are getting my money"
In 2006 I saw BT and thought, well, they are the network providers for our country (haven't switched since then but you get the idea). Thankfully they upped their networks to Infinity around here. I'm tempted to switch to Virgin though.
Click to expand...

Nobody is even close to beating Comcast's availability + technology.

FiOS is up there (the technology may be even better than Comcast), but the lack of availability and the set top box issue I mentioned make it a no-go for me.

The three most popular and biggest internet providers in the U.S. are Comcast, at&t, and Verizon. I don't see any of them matching Comcast.

Also, Comcast's "coax" technology has been around forever and is already embedded in many homes from their original analog cable TV a while back. Now, they can use that same coax and bring internet and phone to the already-serviced areas that they've expanded into for many years.
 
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