If you’re going to spend the big bucks and get Apple’s phone in June, you need to start preparing now. First on your shopping list (right after a case) should be an email address. You don’t want just any email address. You need a Yahoo address (because bizarrely enough, .Mac still doesn’t the IDLE command). The problem is all the cool ones are taken and you’ll probably need to add numbers to the name.
I’ve found the solution. Like the commercials say, you can find it on eBay. For example, the elusive iphone_addicted username on Yahoo’s email service was recently sold. It was quite a steal too. It cost a mere $300. Half the cost of the iPhone. I knew I should have gotten in on it.
[via eBidiot]
Will Gmail work??
Gads. I'm sorry, but I have no requirement or plans to have email pushed on to my iPhone. It includes a Mail app that will check my own .mac, POP, or IMAP right? It has data capabilities, right? So that means I can check my email - let me repeat - I can check my email whenever I want. All without a "push" type email that has the crackberry users all in an uproar. I don't get it.
When I am at work, I get my email on my desktop. If I'm not at work, I don't want to receive nor would I accept or check for any work related email. Maybe that's the determining factor with the ones that want it. Maybe there are others who take work home with them (haha… suckers) and have to receive work email when they are away from… well… work. Not so with me. I don't even give my cell phone (I have no use for land lines) out to my work.
Another thought. Perhaps I should sell an email address from my domain. iPhone.this, iPhone.that, iPhone.whatever. Wouldn't be anything fancy. Surely no pushing. Maybe 10MB of space, web-access, POP3. I wonder how much that would go for on ebay? Hmm…
This headline makes it appear that an email address for an iPhone will cost you $300. The article was funny, but since many people, especially non-Mac-faithful, simply scan Apple-related headlines, I found it irresponsible.
As for push email, that's a no-brainer. With push email, I don't even have to 'check' my mail to see if I have any. I just have to look at the phone. No contest.
To the commenter who asked if Gmail will work. Gmail will work on the browser (obviously) and it will work in Apple's dedicated mail client too, but it won't have push email -- although I think it's very likely that Google will develop a Gmail widget for the iPhone (which may have 'push' features) and that Apple will approve it.
But it's a moot point, since it's so easy to have a parallel Yahoo account, and Gmail is capable of forwarding your mail to any account while still (unlike Yahoo) keeping a copy for itself. Therefore, you can use Yahoo as your automatic push mail depot, which will also serve the dual function of backing up all of your Gmail. I already use Yahoo for this purpose.
The worst thing about Yahoo is that the 'New Yahoo mail beta' that they are testing right now sucks turds, and eventually we will all probably be forced to use it (that's what happened on the last beta cycle -- no choice pal). When that happens I will probably close all of my Yahoo accounts and go exclusively Gmail. I'm hoping that Yahoo will be slow enough committing suicide that push Gmail will be more fully supported in the iPhone by then via a widget or by Apple itself, so I don't expect any interruption in my push email service.