GMail

Thanks to a tech-savvy friend, I have been privileged to be an early user of Google's new e-mail service, GMail. I have become a great fan of the service largely because of the search and storage facilities it provides for free. An aspect of the service which has caused mild furor in the press is that one's mail is accompanied by a list of links to sites that Google proposes might be of interest to you as a result of scanning your incoming and outgoing e-mail without the aid of human intervention. Much of what is suggested in the links is highly predictable. For example a reference to a city might prompt the (mechanical) gnomes at Google to suggest a hotel in a referenced city. It would seem to work out pretty well -- the hotel pays Google for the hit -- and I get a good e-mail service free to me on the backs of Google's sponsored sites. But then I see a reference to a Depression Clinic next to what I thought was a perfectly innocuous note to my daughter about my weekend plans. What do they know that I don't? Are my thoughts that transparent that a machine can plumb the depths of my psyche in .65 seconds? Worth a second look, I say, but at what? I have some invitations available to try the service. E-mail me if you would like one. They are being auctioned on EBay for $60!!! Gmail - Inbox