Nitpicker

I'll admit, when it comes to using the web I'm picky. But honestly with so many solutions for each problem out there that isn't necessarily a bad thing. One of the areas I'm most picky is my online mail account. I'm currently a GMail fanatic. I love the layout (actually it's more of the lack of banner ads that I get all warm and fuzzy about), clean and simple. I've had a Yahoo! account since I was in highschool (I graduated in '99 if you're keeping score). I actually used it for a while, even into my freshman year of college. I originally used Hotmail, but it didn't keep me (I can't even remember my address with them).

I still use my Yahoo! account for junk, you know, things that require email confirmation and you just know they're giving out your email to their marketing departments. Yahoo! has always been too cluttered for me though. The majority of the pages you see are ads, and not just text ads, banners and flash movies are all the rave with Yahoo!. Which brings me to a side point. Everyone is marketing to someone. Yahoo! just happens to be marketing to a young audience that loves the flashy movies and the 'meet your perfect mate' opportunities that Yahoo! offers.

One thing about Yahoo! mail that is a nice change (although they still haven't gotten rid of the banners) is thier new beta (does that word even mean anything on the web anymore?) mail interface. It's all ajaxified and desktop-app-like. But again, it isn't marketing to me. For instance, if you've used the new Yahoo! Mail Beta you may have noticed this little bouncing guy when waiting for your mail to load:

Link to Bouncing Liam

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for an animated Gif (I pronounce it with a 'g' like good unless I don't) just like the next person. But really, what does this little guy (they call him Liam in the file name) have to do with checking my email? Not a freakin' thing. This is just another example that they are marketing to the kiddies. A young audience is all about little images moving on the screen, it stimulates their young minds I guess. But for me, it's just annoying. I want functionality, even above aesthetics.

Until next time
Les