Reality Check | Computers are Evil
I have joined the ranks of those who have lost emails in Gmail.
I switched to Gmail precisely because it allows me to have robust web access, AND download all of my emails to a pop client like "Mail". After about a year, I stopped downloading at all and figured it would all just be there in Gmail for me. I loved the idea that a savvy company like Google was going to be managing my mail and I was thus lulled into complacency.
Windows and Mac have one major flaw, the user has to manage them. With Google, the task of storing and keeping emails was supposed to be taken care of by a benevolent, smart company that would ensure that I wouldn't lose an email ever again. I thought we had achieved a Nirvana of sorts. We haven't. Even with the great white hope of "Time Machine" around the corner, I don't think said Nirvana will EVER happen. Maybe with some type of RAID, but even then, I hesitate to trust any automated system again.
The bottom line is, you can't trust any computer, or any company for that matter to take care of your data. You STILL have to make backups yourself.
I'll never know exactly which emails were lost. I only know that my drafts folder grew incredibly one day and that 60% of those messages had already been sent. I even checked with some of the recipients.
I guess I'm off to fire up Mail and backup what's left. Unfortunately, it looks like much of what was lost were sent messages. Sadly, Google doesn't provide a way to automatically bcc every sent message to a backup account elsewhere, so unless I remember to type in a bcc with every email sent, my email archive is at risk.
Computers are EVIL. Don't be fooled.
I switched to Gmail precisely because it allows me to have robust web access, AND download all of my emails to a pop client like "Mail". After about a year, I stopped downloading at all and figured it would all just be there in Gmail for me. I loved the idea that a savvy company like Google was going to be managing my mail and I was thus lulled into complacency.
Windows and Mac have one major flaw, the user has to manage them. With Google, the task of storing and keeping emails was supposed to be taken care of by a benevolent, smart company that would ensure that I wouldn't lose an email ever again. I thought we had achieved a Nirvana of sorts. We haven't. Even with the great white hope of "Time Machine" around the corner, I don't think said Nirvana will EVER happen. Maybe with some type of RAID, but even then, I hesitate to trust any automated system again.
The bottom line is, you can't trust any computer, or any company for that matter to take care of your data. You STILL have to make backups yourself.
I'll never know exactly which emails were lost. I only know that my drafts folder grew incredibly one day and that 60% of those messages had already been sent. I even checked with some of the recipients.
I guess I'm off to fire up Mail and backup what's left. Unfortunately, it looks like much of what was lost were sent messages. Sadly, Google doesn't provide a way to automatically bcc every sent message to a backup account elsewhere, so unless I remember to type in a bcc with every email sent, my email archive is at risk.
Computers are EVIL. Don't be fooled.
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