as for privacy, the vast majority of people’s email is stored on a third party’s servers. whether it’s their ISP, gmail, hotmail, yahoo, or another provider seems like a minor distinction. (ok, hardcore geeks with your own mail servers, you’re the rare exception. put your hands down. :P)

if you’re thinking about the ads, i’ll let gmail speak for itself. personally, i think it’s just silly. spam filters have been “reading” our mail forever. in terms of privacy, gmail’s ad targeting is no different. they’re both just computer programs. people play the (unwarranted) privacy card because they want a way to diss ads.

- myfanwy humphreys

agreed, i’m a prepaid fan too. it is more expensive, but if i ever give in and get a cell phone, i’d definitely go that route.

on a similar note, i’ve been wondering if the prepaid providers support phone number portability. even if they do, though, i doubt i could keep my current Vonage phone number. sigh…

- Bunda Gostosa

Just curious, but why, if you value privacy so highly (as you should in my opinion), do you use gmail?

- Robert