we hardly knew ye
As iPhone push technology becomes ubiquitous, you should consider switching your email addresses over to their IMAP equivalents. Most email addresses set up any time before about a year ago used the POP standard—email stays on a web server and syncing is one-way. However, most new email addresses, including all new Gmail addresses, can be created using IMAP—syncing is 2-way, so you can access exact replicas of your accounts from either your own computer or any computer connected to the internet.
Wanting to hop onboard that train while I still have a chance, I thought to let my main Gmail account transition itself from POP to IMAP today while I was working in the lab. With a few clicks, I had turned on IMAP and started a new account in Mail on my Mac.
Once the new account was created in Mail, the storm began. I assume that those with only a few emails in their account, say 3 or 4 dozen, would transition with ease, probably in the amount of time it takes to carefully roll your eyes. However, my 8,000-strong emails entirely froze in syncing. I was aware that Mail would re-sync all of my email from Gmail and was ready to delete duplicates once they arrived, but server troubles prevented even basic syncing.
It simply wouldn’t complete a sync. Even with restarting Mail, rebooting my Mac, trying to continually click “Get Mail”. The sync would just freeze and the complex arrangement of Rules that I have would turn an otherwise straightforward task into a nightmare. So, let this be a warning to the wise.
And, as the iPhone roars into the market and new technology is either bolstered by its iPhone-approval or destroyed by a lack of interoperability, another casualty must be revealed. One of Apple’s own creations is, in fact, the loser.
With MobileMe bringing a slew of super-syncing features on the coattails of the iPhone’s success, the former .Mac iCard (which was, as you might have known, free for all) will be discontinued and forgotten. While Hallmark is the big name for eCards, the iCard was always more beautiful and less filled with hideous flash animations. The first ever eCard I received was an iCard, a Christmas/New Year’s wish from Jeremiah, and I still have the file saved from that 2001 holiday. I will miss the iCard—it truly was the simplest way to send a quick greeting to friends and family while allowing them to save the card for eternal viewing.
While they still have breath, please send someone an iCard. Go to Mac.com and click on the iCard link in the lower menu bar. Random posts are the best and, while brightening someone’s day, also make the world a better place for you, too.