Gmail’s problem
Posted on December 7, 2007
Filed Under Opinion, Rants |
I have to admit, I’m in love with Google. I tend to do this, once a company gets a bit evil, I go for it. I have no problem with Microsoft, it’s mainly what company has the best software etc. Apple is now known for its sweat shops etc. but people still think they’re good, so maybe it’s just subjective.
Anyway, not intending to bash companies. My thing is Gmail. I think it is fantastic. The spam filter is second to none, the features are brilliant, and, for the first time, I am considering ditching Outlook for Gmail as my default mail client. “So why don’t you?” you ask. Well I don’t want to use a gmail address. I have my own domain name which I use. “But you could use that with Gmail”. Yes, yes I could, and this is where Gmail’s secret comes out. If I send an email from my domain email, it makes my from field: “xxx@gmail.com on behalf of xxx@xxx.com”. Not great. I don’t want people to know my Gmail address.
Google’s immediate response? “It doesn’t do that in most email clients, only Outlook”. Right, so blame someone else. In fact, even better, most people who check emails in an office environment use Outlook. In fact, half the damn world use Outlook.
It’s a measure to get past spam filters. No other webmail client does this. If it is a bug, then Gmail have to swallow it as most people use Outlook. I would think Outlook is doing the right thing anyway, what Google is doing is setting the from field and another field (I think something like x-sender) to different email addresses. Outlook shows it for security, which I’d say is a good thing. So Outlook won’t change, and Google are being obstinate.
I could use the Google Apps which will do everything for me, but it isn’t really as integrated as Gmail and Google Calendar, and the URL for my Gmail account is pretty long.
So come on Google, blaming other people is not on, especially when competition get it right and Microsoft seem to be doing nothing wrong, add to that the email client where you claim “only some email clients do this” is Outlook, one of the most widely used email clients on the face of this planet, it all points to you, fix it and stop being stupid.
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