The most obvious differentiator that Google is building in its email services is space maximization.
GC: The most obvious differentiator that Google is building in its email services is space maximization. And the reaction from its main competitor- Yahoo-testifies to the trend of growing hunger for space. Yahoo has now increased the free space to 1GB per account. The question here is do we need so much space? Well, to my mind the answer is..yes. To give an instance, about five years ago most of the jokes doing round on the web were text-based. And today, we hardly see a email that has text-based joke. Instead, video of humorous commercials are doing round on the web. Also with the cell phone becoming a ubiquitous camera device, a lot of on-the-fly sharing is gaining ground and people are hungry for storage space that is easily accessible. 1GB and much more of that space is an answer to this need. So, I guess Google was the first mover in spotting that opportunity. What next? We can expect better search and access capabilities on the web-based email.Don't be surprised if one of the email providers actually offers fully functional Outlook-look alike on the web-based email.
Also, web-based email would increasingly become our home for all kinds of information. So expect it to look more like a personal knowledge base..not simply email archive!
GC: Like I mentioned, people no longer differentiate between portals - they want to use the same portal for all their needs (barring specialized portal, say for F1 championships!). Google already has a dedicated following for its search portal. And email is basically another form of knowledge, albeit personal knowledge, that can be classified under a portal. Google seemed to have identified this and they are offering the entire knowledge repository, including groups and email, through its services. Also, remember, a dedicated email user base almost guarantees Google hits on its search engine as well.
GC: Think I answered this in the first question itself. Much like money, space requirement operates in ranges. A less than certain amount of space would make you unhappy (ask hotmail users) but a wealth of unused space would not necessarily make you happier. While today not many of us would be using 1GB, so a 1GB offering is only notionally very attractive. However, once the gaming and online video culture catches fire, we might feel unhappy with a 1GB space as well. So, overall currently 1GB space might feel adequate but soon we might cross this threshold as well. Google strategy of increasing it on the continuous basis is a good way to ensure that users always feel they can get more when they need it in future.
GC: There are no free lunches... get ready to pay for that gig of space you occupy on yahoos and Gmails. The party will end soon! Also, facilities like search, POP etc., will continue to come at a premium. |
