] The "billboard in your home" metaphor you used is totally
] inappropriate. There are no flashing colors, no obtrusive
] interruptions. If you'd seen the system, there's no way
] you could have made a statement like that.

A better "billboard in your home" metaphor is advertising on television, and junk mail. The concerns about Gmail are not addressed correctly here on either front.

[ I think this whole issue is being blown way out of reasonable proportion. I've got zero problem with gmail as originally envisioned. That being said, I wasn't gonna use it for anything particularly important either, so having it give targeted ads on the random chatter from my grandparents isn't really a concern. I think the concept they're pushing is very intriguing and I'd like to see it in action... on my own test set.

I'm certainly not one to dismiss privacy issues, but I pretty much assumed right off that they were gonna be needing to digest my messages in order to do the things they said. I'd never in a million years do this with mail i want to keep private. I don't have any critically private shit go to my hotmail account either.

Speaking of which, aren't the blinking, flashing, "DATE THIS HOT CHICK, YOU PATHETIC LOSER" ads on hotmail about a thousand times worse than the unobtrusive ads i saw on the gmail screens? -k]

Powazek: Just a Thought: Dear Senator