Google seriously Bad News :(

[DerChef]

I know Google have been in the News recently for various wrong reasons but here is an interesting little experience of mine.

I wanted to go over to using Gmail and I discovered that its server handles pop3 access in an odd way (see thread of mine on here) it only gives you one shot at downloading via pop3 i.e I want to keep a work PC and my home Mac synced and my email safely in 3 places. Once one program accesses that message it cant be downloaded again even if gmail is configured to leave messages unread on its server

Anyways that is all in the past. What was interesting is I tried to search for this issue using google and guess what the so all encompassing search engine found NOTHING at all about this.

Therefore I presumed this was only an oddity to do with me and/or ISP and/or my email software.

Well I searched for the same topic with MSN and guess what forums and blogs about this very issue crawled out of the woodwork left, right and centre.

Maybe a coincidence but maybe China is not the only thing that has censorship

I know people on here ***** their ***** about google but I am rapidly moving to getting rid of everything to do with them.

 

[iMeowbot]

It only took a few seconds of Googling to find discussions of this POP3 quirk, including some discussions about it in the Gmail support group.

 

[DerChef]

It only took a few seconds of Googling to find discussions of this POP3 quirk, including some discussions about it in the Gmail support group.

This may well be a recent addition it wasnt when I tried it at the end of last year

 

[OldCorpse]

I just performed a google search using terms: gmail pop problems:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=gmail+pop+problems&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

There are literally pages and pages of problems discussed... I'd think that if google was trying to censor any news/discussion of problems w/ gmail and/or google, they wouldn't so readily serve up these pages... what's so special about YOUR described problem that would make google censor just THAT one versus any other? Doesn't seem to me the problem you describe is particularly unflatterfing to google versus any of the other problems they clearly don't censor, so... anyhow, isn't gmail still beta? I'd expect some problems to persist... why not file a bug report? I've filed gmail bug reports before, and found google to be quite responsive.

I have never had negative experiences with google. Sure, I don't think they're above criticism or that they can't ever be "evil", but SO FAR, that's not been my experience... who knows about the future.

So, I'll keep using gmail and google. You are welcome not to, it's a free world (mostly ). Of course, I wonder, whom would you switch to for your search? You mention MSN. Well, there we have DOCUMENTED skewing of search results (infamous "linux" incidents a couple of years ago)... so far, I challenge you, to point to ONE instance of DOCUMENTED google search distortion... sorry, anecdotal stories and 7th hand rumors don't qualify. Oh, and wrt. China? I don't think that's google's finest hour, but do you think yahoo, or MSN or other search engines are better wrt. China? Actually the opposite - read about the latest scandal with yahoo cooperating with China to actually out dissidents... so far, google hasn't done THAT. And read what Billy G. said about China and his position on the internet there... chilling. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., google is actually FIGHTING the federal government attempts to data mine people using search engines - while yahoo and MSN and others QUIETLY, without informing anyone simply cooperated with the feds. Very, very different approach.

Again, go ahead and switch, why not, /shrug/. But to whom?

Personally, I've seen no DOCUMENTED evidence of google "evil deeds" (unlike other companies, ahem), and I'll continue to use them until such a time when they prove themselves unreliable... no use jumping at shadows, IMHO. Of course, YMMV. Do as you please, dude.

 

[Danksi]

I picked up on this problem when I first started using GMail, I just use the POP for the laptop and web-based for the desktop, when I do actually access GMail on that machine.

What else can one expect for 'free'.

 

[DerChef]

I just performed a google search using terms: gmail pop problems:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=gmail+pop+problems&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

There are literally pages and pages of problems discussed... I'd think that if google was trying to censor any news/discussion of problems w/ gmail and/or google, they wouldn't so readily serve up these pages... what's so special about YOUR described problem that would make google censor just THAT one versus any other? Doesn't seem to me the problem you describe is particularly unflatterfing to google versus any of the other problems they clearly don't censor, so... anyhow, isn't gmail still beta? I'd expect some problems to persist... why not file a bug report? I've filed gmail bug reports before, and found google to be quite responsive.

I have never had negative experiences with google. Sure, I don't think they're above criticism or that they can't ever be "evil", but SO FAR, that's not been my experience... who knows about the future.

So, I'll keep using gmail and google. You are welcome not to, it's a free world (mostly ). Of course, I wonder, whom would you switch to for your search? You mention MSN. Well, there we have DOCUMENTED skewing of search results (infamous "linux" incidents a couple of years ago)... so far, I challenge you, to point to ONE instance of DOCUMENTED google search distortion... sorry, anecdotal stories and 7th hand rumors don't qualify. Oh, and wrt. China? I don't think that's google's finest hour, but do you think yahoo, or MSN or other search engines are better wrt. China? Actually the opposite - read about the latest scandal with yahoo cooperating with China to actually out dissidents... so far, google hasn't done THAT. And read what Billy G. said about China and his position on the internet there... chilling. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., google is actually FIGHTING the federal government attempts to data mine people using search engines - while yahoo and MSN and others QUIETLY, without informing anyone simply cooperated with the feds. Very, very different approach.

Again, go ahead and switch, why not, /shrug/. But to whom?

Personally, I've seen no DOCUMENTED evidence of google "evil deeds" (unlike other companies, ahem), and I'll continue to use them until such a time when they prove themselves unreliable... no use jumping at shadows, IMHO. Of course, YMMV. Do as you please, dude.

Well this Gmail issue makes it useless to my needs so thats gone, well it will die due to lack of use.

As for searching I might well try a few back to back tests between it and others maybe delete the cookies at the end though woops hang on dont they keep those server side as well

 

[JasonGough]

no.

GMail can be configured to let you download emails that have already been downloaded again.

Its in the settings i think, in the Pop and fowarding tab.

Click the button for 'Download messages that have already been downloaded'.

I think you might need to do this each time tho, but it is possible to have it downloading on 2 machines.

hope that helps

 

[DerChef]

no.

GMail can be configured to let you download emails that have already been downloaded again.

Its in the settings i think, in the Pop and fowarding tab.

Click the button for 'Download messages that have already been downloaded'.

I think you might need to do this each time tho, but it is possible to have it downloading on 2 machines.

hope that helps

Ok a couple of points as I think this is getting a bit off topic. My interface must be different to others as I have NO "Download messages that have been already downloaded" in gmails Pop and forwarding tab. I have heard of this before might be a difference between users who have registered at different times?

However that is not the point Gmail has hacked me off and I dont want to use it again.

In terms of Google in general I might take back what I said about censorship as I noticed in google news today a whole section about privacy concerns about google desktop 3 for the PC.

So maybe it is not foul play but if that is not the case it is not as efficient a search as everybody makes out.

 

[mkrishnan]

I think you might need to do this each time tho, but it is possible to have it downloading on 2 machines.

Jason, have you actually *tried* using this feature practically? It doesn't do anything terribly useful. What it does is initiate a re-download on each machine of EVERY e-mail you have ever received with GMail. And GMail doesn't really delete mails at the request of the offline client. It's not pretty. So yes, in the sense that, if you're willing to log in, change this setting, and re-download every e-mail ever, every single time you want to sync either machine, then yes, you're right, it's a solution. But it's not much of one.

I like GMail. This problem is well, well known about. It's not a secret. But it's also not an illusion. It's a real problem. And it's not Mac-specific. I have two Macs and a WM5 handheld. Only one of them can really use GMail offline.

 

[26139]

Wait...

Well this Gmail issue makes it useless to my needs so thats gone, well it will die due to lack of use.

As for searching I might well try a few back to back tests between it and others maybe delete the cookies at the end though woops hang on dont they keep those server side as well

So you're saying because you won't use gmail it's going to die? Oh, God no! What are we going to do!?!?!

 

[DerChef]

So you're saying because you won't use gmail it's going to die? Oh, God no! What are we going to do!?!?!

Dont be ****ing stupid I mean the account will get deleted.

And In answer to another poster I am sure I can get by without using google search and will not have to revert back to a feudal agrarian pre industrial age.