Gmail issues

Interestingly, when you type "gmail down" into Google, the first search result is my recent blog entry posted last time it went down. I knew it had gone down again this morning because that entry has suddenly started receiving lots of comments by frustrated Gmail users. A couple of people are also defending Gmail because, after all, it's just BETA and people who are taking advantage of this free service shouldn't expect it to be perfect. 

Fair enough. I moved anything important off Gmail last time it went down.
I just wish the Google people would provide some notification or explanation about what's going on when Gmail goes down. We all know it's BETA, and most users are willing to forgive problems since we're getting a free service, but I think we'd be more likely to pay for their service in the future if we felt we could count on them to be open about what they're doing and keep users informed.

One user's perspective.

UPDATE: It's back up at 12:30pm EST. Seems like it was down for only about 30 minutes this time. Last time it was a few hours. I still think information to users would be a good idea. How to keep users informed so that they'll stay happy, calm and trusting despite unexpected problems (which everybody has) should be part and parcel of a BETA testing phase for any commercial service or product. IMHO. But then what do I know. I'm just a user.

Comments

[oldfox]

no, no, no. Don't even THINK that people are willing to pay for gmail. Gmail is funded by the advertising. I do not see Google dropping advertising as a for-fee option. NBC, CBS and PBS do not offer you a fee-version to zap the ads and fundraiser nagging.

I am moving most all of my emails over to gmail and learning the different ways to use it rather than typical email programs. They handle Spam better than anywhere else I've tried. If you travel, use multiple machines, it is wonderful. Plus you can poll POP servers and forward.

I'm a huge supporter of Gmail, and GOOG shares as well. I like the way they are willing to reinvent everything and break out of the boxes of "conventional wisdom." Over great odds, they did it with their public offering. They are doing it with gmail. For a today "advertising sales" company, they built an incredible brand without a lick of advertising. All word of mouth.

Yes, I have a few irritations with the interface and functionality, but I'm a True Believer and urge everyone to buy stock in Google as well. Forget "information" This is the Knowledge Management Age and they are managing more knowledge than anyone else is in better ways. Sorry Mr. Gates. I lilke you too but the mantle has now passed.

I use Clusty (from Vivisimo) for clustering search results but that doesn't detract from Google. Hell, Google might buy Vivisimo.

Cheers.

P.S. We'll see what I say when I get near "99% of your storage capacity!"

[shawna]

gmail seems to be down!!!

[TiA]

Dear Rebecca,

As a student in year 12, i am involved in I.T as a subject and i have done work on Gmail and had to research it because it is necessary to know what it is my article is talking about. i was wondering if maybe you could let me in on how it really works and whether the rumors i have heard about it are true or not because i need this for my I.T portfolio...anything would help if you could and i want to compliment you on your information because i find it interesting and helpful at the same time.

Regards,
T.I.A

[Tim]

It's just been down again for over 11 hours! And I only got two emails in that time, rather than the usual 50 or so. Did anyone else get this too?

[Google down again?]

cannot connect to the server...

[Hectic]

Down in Belgium also since this evening, @ work i still used the account, couple hours later @ home it wont work..
1st time i had trouble logging in, hope they fix it asap & nothing gets lost

[What do you mean its beta?]

They call it beta, but it is not. All the free services call their shit beta. Shit meaning stuff. GMail is not beta. You don't have beta software in the market for over a year. I wish California start-ups would stop calling their shit beta so they can get away with buggy software. Hopefully, the site is down for an upgarde, but why upgrade all servers at once. This is not really acceptable. People think this is acceptable because it is "free". It is not free...they make all of their revenue (which is quite high) off of this "free" software due to advertising. If you think it is free, it is not. It is paid by the advertising you read. You pay for this software by your time visiting the pages. You should demand more. They should notify users of scheduled downtimes and be more informative of non-scheduled downtimes. Be realistic, nothing in life is free. Well, sorry for my rant, but i like to hold software and companies to a higher level because I expect nothing less from what I write and I am tired of Internet companies calling GA software "beta" so that they have no responsibility for the shit they write (here i mean shit). Accountability is a great word and needs to come into play more often than it does.

chuck

[Ben borges]

Google staff should use RSS or even podcast to stay in contact with users, i mean it's 2 minutes to explain a ocasional shutdown, or 5 min for something whorst!

I'll be glad to receive a little rss news saying " gmail will be off for some hours today"

hey? what about USING technology ?

[Xman]

Well, gmail has been playing up recently. Not sure if anyone has noticed this too. Can't seem to add attachements.

[george]

Gee gMail is down again just now, 2:02 p.m., January 24, 2006.

Don't reply, this is a gMale Account.

George