Erik mentions not wanting to use his Gmail account because he prefers a desktop app to Gmail’s web-only interface. I too have struggled with how best to use Gmail since I was granted a coveted invitation by a kindly Google employee (who I thank sincerely, but I won’t name—unless he wants me to—in case he wants to be spared the inevitable pleas for invites). On one hand I feel quite privileged to be able to give the service a try (particularly now that things like Gmail Swap have started appearing), but on the other hand, I already have a well-established email address at my own domain, and, like Erik, I’m a desktop app kind of guy who is a bit reluctant to commit to Gmail’s web-only interface (particularly until it works better in Safari).
Fortunately, thanks to this post by Danny O’Brien, I think I’ve finally cracked the question of how to make use of Gmail based on its strengths: archive and search. I’ve added a .procmailrc rule on my web host’s server that automatically forwards any messages I receive to my Gmail account (in addition to delivering them to my normal inbox). Then I set up a filter in Gmail that takes any messages coming from my scifihifi.com account and places them directly in my Gmail archive (bypassing the inbox).
This way I can still use my normal email address, and still receive and send email primarily through Mail.app, but I also get to use my Gmail account as a huge email repository with the world’s best search engine attached. I’ve never really thought full text search was one of Mail.app’s strong suits, and I also like the fact that I can walk up to any computer that has web access and search for a message that someone sent me awhile ago, so I think this arrangement is a big win.
My only real complaint about it is that it doesn’t also catch my sent mail, but that’s not that big of a deal. I suppose there’s also the potential privacy issues to worry about, but I honestly have a hard time getting myself too worked up about them.