I've Been Googlified

Unfortunately this idealist finally decided to take the plunge. I am now using Gmail, Google's email service. I had resisted the urge to switch all this time, in spite of the obvious benefits. I already use many of Google's web application services and don't like to put my eggs all in one basket. I generally think Google knows far too much about us already.

I don't particularly have anything to hide, but neither do I like the idea of some powerful entity other than God peering into my every action. Any such power will NEVER use this information responsibly. Eventually the amount of information stored about us will be enough to describe our habits and exact whereabouts within a complicated formula or data structure. Privacy and freedom will cease to exist if this information is used for the wrong purpose by the wrong people. This may be quite a way out, but it is consistent with sociopolitical trends and isn't at all out of line with Biblical prophecy. I don't particular see Google itself as evil or malevolent or some future world power (they're a private company, and I use many of their products), but they have set many precedents concerning the "value" and freedom to collect exorbitant information, a trend that will likely only multiply in the future.

That said, I've not been satisfied with the web mail options provided by my web hosting company. Since it is possible to use Gmail to manage email for an owned domain, I experimented with setting up a Google Apps Mail account and pointed my server's mail MX records there. It works like a charm. All my email client woes are now a thing of the past, and I don't have to bother with changing my email address. If I want, at any time I can switch back to managing my email with my hosting plan.

By the way, why on earth is the most wonderfully simple, lightning fast, feature-rich web email service still in Beta? What more can they add or iron out before it just is?