6 Reasons Why Gmail Pisses Me Off
March 7th, 2008 by Mark Spoonauer
I work in an office that uses Google Apps for delivering our e-mail, but we all have the option of using Outlook to download our mail from the Google servers. And I typically do, but during the past few days I’ve been giving Gmail a shot while I’ve been testing the Lenovo ThinkPad X300. (I’m too lazy to configure Outlook on a new machine.)
Now, don’t get me wrong. The search function is fantastic and much faster than Outlook. I also like how easy it is to do things such as set an Out of Office message. And even though it can be disorienting, the threaded chat functionality comes in handy. But in too many other ways Gmail is just a mess. Here’s why.
1. Hidden Reply and Forward
Along the top of each message is a row of clear, easy-to-read buttons: Archive, Delete, Report Spam, and More Options. But the Reply button is easy to miss. It’s tucked below this line to the right of the message date. And the Forward button isn’t in plain view up top. You have to click the down arrow next to Reply and then select Forward. I say put both Reply and Forward on the same line as Delete. Seriously, which do you do more often, Archive or Forward?
2. Can’t See Who Has Been CC’ed Right Away
In Outlook you can easily tell who has been cc’ed on a given message without having to do anything, but in Gmail you have to click Show Details to see this info. And as far as I can tell there’s no way to have these details displayed by default. Why?
3. Crappy Attachment Handling
Yesterday I got a message with an attachment, noted by a little paper clip icon next to the message date. So I clicked on the icon. Nothing. You have to scroll down to the end of the message and click there to download it . Why not put attachment files up top? Was Gmail originally designed for two-sentence messages or something? (On the plus side, I do like that you can view attachments in HTML so you can decide whether they’re worth downloading.)
4. Previews Too Short
One thing I like about Outlook—and Yahoo Mail—is that there’s a preview pane that allows you to see most if not all of the message at a glance. Gmail doesn’t have one, and longer subject lines mean that you’ll maybe see a word or two of a message. The more of a message I can see before loading it, the more quickly I can decide whether it should be deleted.
5. Can’t Drag and Drop Messages Into Folders
This is a function I should be using more in Outlook but don’t. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate it in Gmail. Sure, you can apply labels to messages, but it’s not as easy as dragging and dropping an e-mail to the left side of the screen. In Gmail you have to click the check box next the message, then select from a drop-down menu of labels. One extra step is too many for me.
6. Replies Aren’t on Top
So I just responded to an invitation for an event Samsung is having and I received a reply. And what do I see first? The original text for the invitation message. The text of the reply was below that, requiring me to scroll down. Why? This is really dumb. The same thing happened when I was trying to book the conference room in our office for another meeting and was trying to resolve a scheduling conflict via e-mail. This really feels like a beta bug to me.
So do you think I’m off base in my Gmail criticisms? Will things get better as I learn to use it? Got any tips? Sound off in our comments.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
That blank reply field below every message is so damn convenient that I reflexively click in there no matter what, even when I mean to reply to all (if you click in there, Gmail assumes you want to reply only to sender).
I guess Gmail can’t read my mind. Oh well.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Could not agree more, but I am to lazy to tell everyone my new address. I even went to Google’s site to try to make these suggestions and more…no response, not even a thank you for your suggestion.
The search engine is great, but I am actively in search of the next email site that will really deliver some punch. User friendly and with as many user set defaluts as possible. A completely customizable site. Push email, drag and drop attachments, the works. It’s out there. Probably some 14 year old kid is working on it right now. If you don’t think google can be prought down, just look at what happened to GM. It’s just a matter of time. Especailly when google really doesn’t care what it’s user think.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
dowload the bettergmail extension for firefox and it will piss you off less.
March 7th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
enable shortcuts in the settings. then you can just tap R to reply and F to forward etc. that’s how i always do it.
i think the attachment handling is great too.
gmail is the best.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:53 am
I think Gmail is great; it just takes a little getting used to.
1. Hidden Reply and Forward - As far as the hidden reply goes, that’s only something that’s annoying the first time you use it. Once you know where it is, it’s not a problem. You can also just click on the blank reply field at the end of the message if you only want to reply to the sender. Needing to use a drop-down to get to the forward button is kind of annoying, but as d-monic said, you can set shortcuts to make it even faster than clicking any button.
2. Can’t see who has been cc’d right away - This is one thing that actually is annoying. Hopefully they will change it soon.
3. Crappy attachment handling - This is really a matter of personal preference. It doesn’t bother me that much, but they probably should have the option to change the location.
4. Previews too short - If you use previews, then Gmail’s are definitely too short. I always disable them though because it makes you get less spam. When previews are enabled, it’s like the same thing as opening the message, so if it’s spam then the spammer knows that it’s a valid address and will send you even more spam. Plus, you can almost always tell if a message is spam just from the subject and sender name.
5. Can’t drag and drop messages into folders - I’ve never really used this function in Outlook, so I can’t comment on it.
6. Replies aren’t on top - True, but Gmail automatically scrolls down to a new reply in a conversation. If it doesn’t, you must have scripts disabled or something.
Overall, I really like Gmail. Oh and I agree that bettergmail for firefox is great.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Gmail, google, and everything google-oriented is written by very narrow minded ‘elite’ mentality prideful ‘programmers’. They do NOT listen to the professional IT community and continually piss off the computer world. Google image search results are still limited to just 20 per page, and this is 2008. What the f@#$% century are the idiots at google living in. Not to mention all the annoying ‘autocomplete’ crap that is popping up EVERYWHERE.