Starting A Free Public E-mail Service

[vduxvxvzp7 0]

Hi, do you guys think there's market for a new free e-mail host? I've been using Gmail since 2004 but I'm not happy with the "conversations" idea. Also, I think there's a serious privacy issue with Google (but do other people care about that?). Anyway, I went looking for a better service, but I wasn't happy with a single one of the services that I tried. It seems like all either has too many ads, has a horrible interface or is slow/unreliable.I'm a programmer and I've got enough money to be able to buy the hardware needed to supply quite a lot of people with more than enough space (100s of MiB is enough for most). Do you think it's realistic that I'm able to make it profitable (using a relatively limited amount of advertisements)?Alternatively, I could start a disposable e-mail service (such as mailinator and dodgeit). It wouldn't require much hardware or effort to start with.

[Lyon2 0]

There is also market for a new company, specially for a new email service, free that is, yahoo mail and hotmail were the best and when gmail came most of us would not use it because we were happy, but gmail proved it wrong, at least to me because i like gmail better now, but if in the future, a new and better free email service comes arround, i will try it and perhaps i will change my personal and usual email adress, who knows, it is possible, very possible in fact.Of course google has tons of security weaknesses, the gmail and google search engine, specially the last which is today the number one hacker's tool and friend, that is a fact, beleave it because it is the truth, you can even find passwords and weaknesses in websites, servers, networks and systems connected to the internet, nonetheless, i prefer the gmail and the google search engine to find whatever i want and to receive my email.

Edited November 12, 2007 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[de4thpr00f 0]

May i ask what do you mean about privacy issue?I heard a rumor of google selling your "profile".What i heard is that the easier way to someone create your profile is a search engine, you search what you like (basically) so google is selling your profile to other companies (aka spam), and the gmail is just the mine gold of google, since you search and they know exactly who you are.I think this is just conspiracy, but i have to admit: "This makes sense"Anyway, is this what you are talking about?

[cchsinteract 0]

I dont understand how the conversations are security holes... I mean it's between you and the others that you're chatting with, not the whole world, well that's if you haven't spread your login information around anyway...

[darjin 0]

There is also market for a new company, specially for a new email service, free that is, yahoo mail and hotmail were the best and when gmail came most of us would not use it because we were happy, but gmail proved it wrong, at least to me because i like gmail better now, but if in the future, a new and better free email service comes arround, i will try it and perhaps i will change my personal and usual email adress, who knows, it is possible, very possible in fact.
Of course google has tons of security weaknesses, the gmail and google search engine, specially the last which is today the number one hacker's tool and friend, that is a fact, beleave it because it is the truth, you can even find passwords and weaknesses in websites, servers, networks and systems connected to the internet, nonetheless, i prefer the gmail and the google search engine to find whatever i want and to receive my email.

I have not tried Gmail but it sounds interesting. I am tired of yahoo and will give it a try. Have been with yahoo forever.

[Tran-Gate 0]

To start an email company, won't you need to talk to another major company because aren't they in charge of all the emails? You can't just..... wait, I just thought of something and forgot it.....

[armondtimesbelize 0]

Hi, do you guys think there's market for a new free e-mail host? I've been using Gmail since 2004 but I'm not happy with the "conversations" idea. Also, I think there's a serious privacy issue with Google (but do other people care about that?). Anyway, I went looking for a better service, but I wasn't happy with a single one of the services that I tried. It seems like all either has too many ads, has a horrible interface or is slow/unreliable.
I'm a programmer and I've got enough money to be able to buy the hardware needed to supply quite a lot of people with more than enough space (100s of MiB is enough for most). Do you think it's realistic that I'm able to make it profitable (using a relatively limited amount of advertisements)?

Alternatively, I could start a disposable e-mail service (such as mailinator and dodgeit). It wouldn't require much hardware or effort to start with.

Dude do what you feel is right. If you have the money and the time to engage in such a venture it's all up to you. Of course i get fed up sometime by some email providers, but that's just me. Some people simply have to suck it out and do with what they've got. I sometime use the Xisto email services or others i pay for, but then again most people seem to go with the free services and that's their decision. Whenever you go with something that's free don't expect to much because all good things cost something.

---> Efrain was here

[joeblogg 0]

yes you will be able to start a free public email service. all you need to do is make it better than the rest: make it look more pleasing ( i hate the design of gmail), make there be less ads, make there be good spam control. you will get customers slowly (depending on the amount of advertising you pay for) but you will be running at loss for a little while but then slowly you will start to lose less money and then before you know it you will be making a little profit and then more and more. you need to be able to keep up with the bigger ones like hotmail and yahoo. good luck with your idea.

[contactskn 2]

Dear friend there is a saying in our area -What can be seen can be sold.?It means the market always have a space for one more , one more and so on. But you should be able to show off your plus what I want to say is you should be able to give something new. if your marketing is good then I think with such a good evaluation skills you can do good. But please do concentrate on the maeketing strategy. You should be able to give some thing really new to people out there and otherwise it wont click.?Best of luck dear friend for your new venture.?

[dab 0]

There's always room for competition. The only thing you need to realize is that to be successful, you need to offer something new to the users. Otherwise, what's the poing in switching right? I say if you think you can do a feature better than what's out there, and you have ideas for improvement, and want to invest your time, go for it. There is always the possibility to not need any of the above to get popular, but that's a lot harder to entice new users, unless they plan on using your services for.. shall we say, non-desired uses (spamming, etc).

[scriptman 0]

Not really the greatest moment possible, since FB is launching new message platform.