Finally, GMail via IMAP!! Great news… and some comments!

Blogged on October 23, 2007 at 23:11

So GMail is offering IMAP… finally! It’s not out to public yet, but I’ve been one of the lucky ones to get it for testing! Here are my thoughts on my first 20m around it.

First off, IMAP is GREAT!! It’s a great way to keep all your mail and folders (inc. sent, drafts, custom folders, etc…) on the server so that all you have to do with every client you may use (be it Thunderbird, Mail.app, Evolution, KMail, etc…) is enter your account details and you have it all right there. It gives you the mobility of a webmail with the power of a desktop client.

Then GMail came out! It was the first true web-based email that could cope with the his desktop counterparts. Google didn’t even offer POP3 support until later on, focusing their efforts on their web interface (that hasn’t been change since then!). If everyone remembers when it came out, the frenzy around the invitations was the best marketing the web has seen, and since then many have copied it. It introduced the whole concept of “Beta” being something “cool” more than “buggy and not ready”!! Kudos for that.

But with the advent of mail on mobile phones, they had to find a solution past their (nice but limited) phone app. In my opinion, they knew they needed IMAP now.

And so I went to try it on my preferred desktop mail app: Mail.app. I was curious on how they would get “around” the “Labels vs Folders” issue that has been long discussed around the web. And that is what the picture on the right shows: they turn them into folders. Please note that on that picture, I have already set my Drafts, Sent, Trash and Junk to the appropriate folders, so I have them correctly set along with the same folders on my other IMAP accounts. But the Labels into Folders was horrible: Why are they placed as local folders (although they’re not) and not under my Inbox for GMail??? Why is a “[Gmail]” Smartbox created for my GMail, when it should be “under” my Inbox, like any other IMAP account, and just like it appears in the web interface??

I think IMAP is a great feature, but it messed up my Mail.app organization. I need those Lab… err… Folders to be listed inside my Inbox, just like the “All Mail” and “Starred”.

When I tried moving them, the Labels on the web interface where changed to “INBOX\Label_name” implying that it is possible to do it with the necessary arrangements on their folder structure on the servers.

And oh boy, I can’t wait for that!

PS: I know there is at least one major university considering moving to GMail for their institutional mail. If anyone is aware of how the process of moving their current mailboxes and mails goes, and it’s twists and quirks, please mail me so I can inform them on how to proceed. I’m sure IMAP will be a feature they’ll have as a pre-requisite… and now they can have it!!!

PS2: I’m having some problems with Firefox and Wordpress… The link dialog is not showing up on the editor and I don’t have time to manually enter links. I’ll put some appropriate links tomorrow!

Oasis & Jamiroquai to follow Radiohead…

Blogged on October 11, 2007 at 23:55

This might be too good to be true, but news came out that 2 of my favorite bands of all times are about to embrace the same paradigm Radiohead did this last Wednesday, October 10th. They’re about to go label-less and release their new albums on their own!! Although that doesn’t mean they’ll use the same pricing strategy as Radiohead did, it means they help keep the major labels… “ticked”! (this a family-safe blog :p)

Interesting enough, they’re all… European (british) bands…

I could go on and on about this issue, but I really have been thinking over this, and I don’t want to get all excited about something I don’t see happening in a broader sense… period. We all know Radiohead, Jamiroquai and Oasis have huuuge fan-bases and lots and lots (and lots!) of money, but *unfortunately* many bands rely on getting a major label contract to really start selling some music.

I say “unfortunately” because this is result of our generation’s way of consumption: we wait to be presented with something we’re told to like, it turns into a hype, it’s shown everywhere from commercial products to TV shows and… the hype dies out, and we wait for the next one!

Of course I’m not talking about myself. I’m very much into post-rock (that term alone is unknown to many!) and listen to amazing bands like God is an Astronaut, Sigur Rós, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, 65daysofstatic, etc… and buy their albums, and try going to concerts when possible. But I’m part of a minority of music lovers, that uses amazing tools like Last.FM (I’d vote on them for best social/music website EVER!), to find artist unknown to the general public. But let’s face it: we’re not the ones filling stadiums and buying band-branded school gear, etc…

I’ll stop here! First, I’m loving this new paradigm of true music communication. After all, music is an art-form and for it to fulfill it’s main purpose is to be heard by as many people as possible, whether they buy it, rent it or borough it, but have the music speak to them. Second, that’s what I love about post-rock… and Radiohead!

The links on the bands names are for their Wikipedia page… It can help getting a background and some cool info on them. But I can’t stress this enough: Visit their websites and listen to some music samples… Heck, buy their albums!! Most of them, if not all, can be found on the iTunes Store. On a side note, God is an Astronaut sells their albums for $8, DRM-Free and in 320kbps… And yes, they’re one of my favorite bands, and they’ll be in Portugal next week for 3 concerts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

via Telegraph.co.uk