Clever But Cluttered.

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Author: Baker, Stephen

GMAIL

Gotta give Google credit. It rethought e-mail down to its roots to create Gmail, which does away with folders and entrusts organization to what Google does best: search. The service now offers a generous 2.6 gigabytes of storage space, virtually eliminating the need to erase messages. When you trade e-mails with someone, Gmail makes it simple to follow the thread of the conversation.

The funny thing is, I rarely use my Gmail account. The service is clever but weird. And the soon-to-be released Yahoo e-mail blends the good features of Gmail with a more traditional approach that I find comfortable. Just looking at the Gmail inbox takes getting used to. For example, both the e-mails you send and those you receive are tagged "me." And all of the e-mail traffic is piled together in the same box. It's an eyesore. The best way to deal with this is to tag and archive the e-mails.

Gmail's tagging system works better than traditional folders because you can cross-reference. So if you get an e-mail from your sister about your father, say, you can tag it with "father" and "sister" and find it in both bins. Of course, in true Google fashion, you can rely on the search box. It's quick and accurate.

Compared with Gmail, the new Yahoo service is a throwback to classic e-mail. But it feels more like a desktop setup, such as Microsoft Outlook, than a Web tool. It's a cinch to drag e-mails into folders, and the pages feel more substantial than traditional Web-mail pages. Like Gmail, Yahoo's mail includes an excellent search function. Both systems provide a glimpse into each document, allowing you to peek at the content.

Gmail is free to everyone as long as you're willing to provide a mobile phone number. (Google, looking ahead to mobile search, clearly wants that database of wireless phone numbers.) For those with the inclination to tinker with it, Gmail is worthwhile -- and a handy place to store loads of digital data.

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Copyright 2006

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By Stephen Baker