Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How to convince my wife to use Mail

S

Sir Lorad

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
81
0
Brazil
Hi there,

Me and my wife are old apple's fan but newby apple users.

I'm trying to convince her to switch from gmail web interface to Mail application on OS X snow leopard.

I've tried it all but can't convince her to abandon gmail web interface. Any ideas?

:D
 
Why should she use it, if she is comfortable with her use?

I still use the web interface of Gmail, even though it has some problems, for instance, you can't use CMD+ArrowLeft or the Back command to get back to your inbox, you have to click on Inbox.
Mail has the advantage of having the list of messages and the messages on view at the same time. Maybe Gmail can be changed to that though.

Btw, your thread title has a little hiccup.
To edit your thread title, just click on the
edit.gif
button on the bottom right of your original post and then click the "Go Advanced" button below your message.


Also have a look at the following links, as the information presented there might be helpful in your future endeavours into Mac OS X and could clear up initial confusion and may even prevent harm to your system or your files.

Mac OS X Basics
Switch 101 - guide with articles made by Apple on how to accustom yourself, after you switched to Mac OS X from Windows​

Mac 101 - How to get started with Mac OS X​

Find out how - tutorial videos made by Apple on how to do certain thing in Mac OS X​

Pro tips - tips made available by Apple for easier ways of doing certain tasks​

Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts - Learn about common Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts.​

Mac OS X Beginner's Guide by MacRumors - learn about software, media players, shortcuts and some useful tips, tricks and hints​

Mac Guides - tutorials, product guides and more​

MRoogle - a very effective tool to search these fora using Google and made available by edesignuk, introductory threads: 1, 2 and 3​

 
Why convince her?

I tried to get my wife to use Apple Mail instead of gmail, but she prefers gmail's web interface also. It came down to the fact that gmail's web interface is good enough for her. Mail's interface does not offer advantages (for her) that are big enough to merit the effort required to change her habits, so I gave up. She is happy and gets things done efficiently, so why should I care what email interface she uses?
 
If she only has one email account then using Mail really has no advantage. I use it because I have a bunch of accounts and its easier to have everything in the same place.
 
My wife uses GMail, I use Mail. We have a happy house. When we are at home, and I'm using Mail on my desktop I show her how easy it is to find things, organize things, file things. When we travel and I'm using my notebook, she shows me how all of her mail is still right there, and while I'm telling people that I'll get back them in a day or so.

I receive a fair number of emails with large attachments - so I've decided to not clog up the portable's HD with stuff I might not need. I know that there are other solutions, but for personal reasons - just like our wive's choice of email reader - I to keep doing things as they are.

Besides - the day after you convince her to switch over is the day her HD will crash taking all of her emails with it. Emails that would have still been safe on GMail if she hadn't listened to you. Do you really need that amount of grief?

Cheers
 
snberk103 said:
Besides - the day after you convince her to switch over is the day her HD will crash taking all of her emails with it. Emails that would have still been safe on GMail if she hadn't listened to you. Do you really need that amount of grief?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the emails still be saved on gmail even if her hd failed?
 
I've quit using Apple Mail a long time ago -- when you have a few thousand emails in your storage, Apple Mail gets unacceptably slow.

I actually use Microsoft Entourage 2008 now. Not because it's so good, but because all other eMail clients for the Mac are so bad and Entourage just sucks a bit less than the competition.

So... In my opinion, it's a bad idea to try to convince your wife to use Apple Mail.
 
Tried that!

I tried switching to Mail with my immersion into Mac, but just couldn't after giving it an honest week. I know it's what you get use to, but I like Gmail too. If you talked her into switching, she'd probably hate you for it, and switch back to Gmail. Just a guess after having tried it.
 
snberk103 said:
...
Besides - the day after you convince her to switch over is the day her HD will crash taking all of her emails with it. Emails that would have still been safe on GMail if she hadn't listened to you. Do you really need that amount of grief?

Cheers
Click to expand...

xi mezmerize ix said:
Wouldn't the emails still be saved on gmail even if her hd failed?
Click to expand...

Yes, I suppose they would - I had forgotten that. :)

I use Mail to read my Gmail. All of my sub-folders and rules, etc would be toast in a case of a HD failure. I don't have any organization on my GMail; instead all of my email organization happens in Mail. So when I do use the GMail web interface, to find anything I have to search on what I think I remember the email might have said.
 
I would encourage you to take a look at Thunderbird as well as Apple Mail. For me, Mail is often slow. In addition to Gmail, I also use Mobile Me in Mail as well as Mobile Me's web interface. I have used Thunderbird over the years as well.

What is the big deal if she insists on using gmail web mail? It's no great loss, really. If anything, a person should have redundant ways of accessing mail because things can go down without warning. For instance, if you get locked out of your gmail account, it is really nice to have a local copy of your inbox. If your net connection is down, it is also very nice to have a local copy. I set all my mail clients to use IMAP either with gmail or with Mobile Me. At no point is my only copy of a message sitting on any one server. One example is somehow google decided the itunes store was spamming me. This meant one of my iTunes receipts for iPad apps went to junk mail. I didn't notice until after the 30 day expiration for junk mail in my gmail account. Luckily, I had copies of the message in other places.

Pick and choose the Apple stuff that works well for you. It is not a crime to use Thunderbird or even Entourage/Outlook instead of Mail on your Mac if that's what works best for you.

We use OpenOffice.org and iWork. My wife can never find the program without a start button and she refuses to click the magnifying glass to bring up Spotlight. I broke down and created an OOO shortcut in her dock so she could find it. She sits there fuming about "hating Mac" but won't take 5 minutes to find out why Spotlight is better than the start menu just as quick view is better than having to wait 30-120 seconds for an app to load on Windows just to view a file. I would never worry about somebody not liking iTunes or Mail because these are not the highest and best examples of Apple software.
 
As Mail access Gmail through IMAP4, the messages are still in Gmail's server. Only the headings are loaded initially. So, I don´t think HD crash would be a problem.

I think it is easier to integrate Mail with other Mac applications, like iPhoto, than the Gmail web interface.

But you're right, I'll stop teasing my wife for using it and keep the peace at home. :D
 
I used to use Apple Mail but eventually opted to just use the Gmail online interface instead. I like having access to my mail ANYWHERE, the saving of drafts, etc. Also Mail has issues connecting to the Gmail server from time to time.

Download google notifier for Gmail. you can set it up to compose a new gmail when the user clicks on a "email hyperlink" in a web page or something - the same thing that would happen if you used Apple Mail.
 
rootsmaneuver said:
Download google notifier for Gmail. you can set it up to compose a new gmail when the user clicks on a "email hyperlink" in a web page or something - the same thing that would happen if you used Apple Mail.
Click to expand...

For me this is the best of both worlds. I just like Gmail better, and since Google Notifier integrates with clicking mail links and such it's seamless. (Gmail in Fluid works really well, too)
 
Winni said:
I actually use Microsoft Entourage 2008 now. Not because it's so good, but because all other eMail clients for the Mac are so bad and Entourage just sucks a bit less than the competition.
Click to expand...

[1] What are all these other great email clients on other platforms?
[2] I have 6,000+ messages across 4 accounts an have found performance more than acceptable. I have had more in the past as well.
 
Gmail's web interface is IMO superior to any e-mail desktop client. I recommend she'd just turn it into an application using Fluid.
 
The compromise is to turn on Gmail's IMAP feature. That way, whatever things happen in Apple Mail will be reflected in the Gmail web interface.

There's an issue, however, in that Gmail's labelling in the web interface does not 100% follow Apple Mail's folders.

To explain: In Gmail, once you send and receive an email having the same title, all backwards and forwards emails, having that same title, will be included in the same conversation thread.

If you label the first email in the thread, you'd expect all the emails in that conversation thread to share the same label, i.e. to appear in the same visual folder in Apple Mail. Not so.

In Apple Mail, you need to file each email separately into the folder. Correspondingly, in the Gmail web interface, each email has to be labelled, i.e. delete the label and add it. If not, the conversation in Gmail will not correlate with the folder structure in Apple Mail.
 
As a lot of people will agree, gmail has the best interface out there. I was a longtime thunderbird user until gmail came around. But I no more see any reason to abandon gmail interface for a local client. I also get my work email fetched through gmail and it works like a charm.

Stop bugging your wife. :)
 
I think one definite advantage Apple Mail has over any web-based email client is the fact that you don't have to have it open in a browser. Really, you enter your email/password once when you set it up, and it's good to go. Then you can have Mail open and running in the background, and just call up your inbox when the Mail icon shows you you've got new mail.
 
If I want to convince my wife, I just use violence or drugs.



No, I'm only joking.







I haven't got a wife.
 
one reason not to use the mail.app is when you send an email through the app through IMAP at least is that it will attach your IP address and other info to the source message which you can see in gmail web, but if you sent through the gmail web interface your IP address isnt shown.
 
elppa said:
[1] What are all these other great email clients on other platforms?
[2] I have 6,000+ messages across 4 accounts an have found performance more than acceptable. I have had more in the past as well.
Click to expand...

Same here. Switched from Outlook and very happy.
 
Take a look at an app called Mailplane. It's pretty expensive for what it does, but it's an awesome app and after using the trial for 30 days I decided to go ahead and purchase a license. I couldn't live without the ability to set Gmail as my default mail client and multiple accounts and Growl notifications work well too. It's a good way to integrate the web interface with the desktop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back