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Google offers 1GB of free mail storage

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Julio Franco, Apr 1, 2004.

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  1. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor

    Google has officially announced they are launching a beta program for their upcoming free mail service that should rival similar programs that Microsoft (Hotmail) and Yahoo have offered for a long time, the biggest and baddest of the search engines however claims it will offer a whole gigabyte of free storage... if that remains true, you can bet it will be huge (see our new poll).

    [IMG]

    # Storage: Google believes people should be able to hold onto their mail forever. That's why Gmail comes with 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free storage – more than 100 times what most other free webmail services offer.
    Julio Franco, Apr 1, 2004
    #1

  2. Masque TechSpot Chancellor

    I'm guessing this is one major April Fools, eh? LOL
    Masque, Apr 1, 2004
    #2

  3. Nodsu Newcomer, in training

    That's a really thorough joke then (check out the further references) and it would be very brave of such a big player like Google to kid around.
    Nodsu, Apr 1, 2004
    #3

  4. StormBringer Newcomer, in training

    I generally tend to think any news I read on April 1st is an april fools joke, besides, 1GB of free storage?? who needs that much space for mail? I guess this is to store all the spam you'll be getting.
    StormBringer, Apr 1, 2004
    #4

  5. BrownPaper Newcomer, in training

    there are two tv news stations in my area that are reporting about the google email, gmail. i am still skeptical about this news though.
    BrownPaper, Apr 1, 2004
    #5

  6. david5182 Newcomer, in training

    OK guys here is the deal:

    First:

    Most major news services are reporting about gmail:

    http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/03/31/google.email.ap/index.html

    http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4719226

    http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/01/technology/01google.html

    HOWEVER, I am now 99% sure it is an April Foos joke.

    If you go here:
    http://www.google.com/gmail/help/about.html

    Read the FAQs.
    Check out this one:

    "4. Is Gmail available in other languages?

    During this testing period, the Gmail interface is only available in English. However, we're committed to making Gmail available to as many people in as many languages as possible. And Gmail accounts can already be used to read and send email in most languages (even Klingon)."

    Klingon? WTF!?

    Anyway, what interests me is the fact that all major news services have picked this up.
    I mean how could they fall for this joke?
    Aren't they supposed to do some research before they post the story?

    Anyone has an opinion(s) on that?
    david5182, Apr 1, 2004
    #6

  7. Mictlantecuhtli TS Special Forces

    https://services.google.com/tcbin/tc.py?cmd=status
    Mictlantecuhtli, Apr 1, 2004
    #7

  8. david5182 Newcomer, in training

    david5182, Apr 1, 2004
    #8

  9. DirtDizzle Newcomer, in training

    Klingon! Thats it. I am 2 nerd references away from retiring from the internet. ;)
    DirtDizzle, Apr 1, 2004
    #9

  10. Julio Franco TechSpot Editor

    You can look at it in two ways...

    1) It's Aprils fools joke, however Google has already got LOTS and then LOTS more of free publicity for their upcoming GMail that is indeed an on-going project.

    2) It's not a joke and Google can indeed handle it, and that's their formula for getting Hotmail and Yahoo users (etc) to switch to their mail service.
    Julio Franco, Apr 1, 2004
    #10

  11. BrownPaper Newcomer, in training

    if it is true, wow 1 GB of email space! that is 50 hotmail accounts.
    BrownPaper, Apr 1, 2004
    #11

  12. ---agissi--- TechSpot Paladin

    defently april fools.. i mean come on.. everyone would get that email, and they dont have a gig of space for everyone.
    ---agissi---, Apr 1, 2004
    #12

  13. StormBringer Newcomer, in training

    StormBringer, Apr 1, 2004
    #13

  14. david5182 Newcomer, in training

    Surely you mean 500.

    500 x 2Mb = 1000Mb = 1Gb
    david5182, Apr 1, 2004
    #14

  15. david5182 Newcomer, in training

    I am getting confused more and more.
    I don't know what to think now! :confused:
    david5182, Apr 1, 2004
    #15

  16. me(who else?) Newcomer, in training

    They would have to have an absolutely giant server. Doesn't Hotmail have something like 2 million members. There's no way you could get 2 million gigs of HD space on one comp (or even several).
    me(who else?), Apr 1, 2004
    #16

  17. DaveSylvia Newcomer, in training

    DaveSylvia, Apr 1, 2004
    #17

  18. Per Hansson TechSpot Server Guru

    With Network Attached Storage you can easily get serveral hundred terabytes of storage in a single 19" rack full of NAS servers...

    And it's not like the averge user will use more than 50mb anyway...

    If they do this they will calculate just like ISP's does; they have more customers than they have IP addresses but at any given point not all customers will be online so it is never a problem
    Per Hansson, Apr 1, 2004
    #18

  19. Nodsu Newcomer, in training

    The storage needed is pretty realistic.. How much does a GB of disk space cost? $1 maybe if you don't go for high end devices and don't buy it all at once. 2 million users, say over a year.. A one-time investment of $2M over 1 year is small change for a company like Google.

    Besides, as already said, it will take a long time for any user to fill up her space unless she comes up with a clever scheme how to use it as webspace for midget porn so the initial storage needed will be relatively small. And since users will be "searching" through their mail the whole mailbox wouldn't have to be available immediately in one place. All you need is a relatively central index - the real content may be spread all over the world.

    Furthermore, such a big mailbox would mean that users don't delete their mail (or at least Google can keep it around for "undeleting"). Imagine the data mining potential of having acess to the whole e-mail traffic of an impressive selection of people from all over the world. A goldmine. Of course there are privacy policies but surely noone would mind if Google indexed their mail archive to make seaching through it faster..

    It's April 2nd in 10 minutes everywhere in the world and the gmail pages are still up at Google so.. The whole thing is not that impossible either.
    Nodsu, Apr 2, 2004
    #19

  20. MrGaribaldi TechSpot Ambassador

    It's still up & about claiming 1GB of storage...


    But then again, so is the two headed ogre from Blizzard, so who knows...
    MrGaribaldi, Apr 2, 2004
    #20
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