What's Google password

If you have a Google account, you can use a number of services including their Gmail email, and for this you have to choose a password.

Aha Tes, thanks most kindly. If it's no trouble, what's Gmail email used for
....excusing my unforgivable laziness

It is on the agenda I assure you, if ever I catch up yardwork....

Er, you do know what 'email' is, right? It's like sending a telegram except you don't need to go to the telegraph office.

Right, but interested in exactly what characterizes the Gmail kind in Google and how I might use it

Again forgive me for my apparent laziness at 85 yardwork is continually calling

Have you heard of Hotmail?

Heard it but dunno what's

Promise to Google it at first opportunity

Thanks again Tes

Do you have an Email account of any type? It is when somebody sends you a letter only it appears on the screen. Usually the company from where you get your internet through gives you a free Email account, such as AT&T. However, many websites, such as Google, Lycos, and so many others, give you a free Email account that you can send and receive electronic messages, pictures, music, etc.

The way it works is, you open up your Email account from a website on your computer. Your Email address is something like: [email protected]. Somebody sends you an Email message at your address. You open up your Email address, read whatever new messages you have received, and that's it.

If you want to send an Email message to somebody else, the same Email website you are on will open up a window, you type your message, and you send it to somebody else. They have an Email address too. So if your friend is Jim Somebody, and he has an Email address of [email protected], you just press SEND on your Email website and he receives the message in a couple of minutes or less.

Gmail (and Hotmail) are examples of web-based email services. Web-based means you use them in a web browser e.g. Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc so you can get and send emails from anywhere you can find a web-connected computer. You just have to remember your password. You can also use Gmail from a mobile phone or tablet.

Of course Blick I have email on my Apple/Mac and as far as I know it's free. I've read your response several times but I can't see how the Google offering does anything for me that I can't already do

Thanks though

For what it's worth I'm [email protected] ; while apparently I don't care who else knows it. But if you'd like to chat....

Tes if you had read my msg to Blick, I can't see how another such Mail symbol over there to the left would provide me with any advantage. I had assumed that I'm already web connected

Besides it might require another password. I had about 60 of 'em at one time but then pulled out of almost every site I had no hope of remembering

You gotta forgive an 85-year-old but it's still not clear what else is different or advantageous about Gmail Email

Thanks again Tes

i've had upwards of 20 email addresses in my near 20 years on the net, a few were assigned by an ISP, my current and longest running ISP gave me an address I have no idea how to access, currently i use 2, gmail and Hotmail, hot mail for my serious email and gmail for my other online pursuits, purchases, signing up for forums or newsletters, giving to telemarketers, etc

when gmail was he it had the largest storage capacity of any service, it's still pretty impressive, though Microsoft improved there capacity a few years back

It probably wouldn't. I have an ISP provided email address but I hardly use it; I use Gmail for everything. However a Google account offers more than just email.

Hey dale.

Bottom line, there's no advantage of one over the other. Think of it as a different brand.

I use yahoo personally, but for my contract job, I had to open a gmail (google mail) account for work related stuff.

Personally, I don't like gmail. But it's no big deal, since my work is really part time.

You mentioned your age and I too got into computer use well after they taught it in school. I'm self-taught and I've managed to teach friends in my age group how to use their computers because their relatives who know about computers are way too technical to follow. So I just assume the other person doesn't know anything when they ask a question about computers, it works much better that way.

As to why anyone would want a website based Email address like Gmail, there are a few reasons.

One, if you change internet companies you lose the Email address the company gave you. That means you have to tell everyone who has your Email address that you want to hear from that your Email address has changed. That's a drag.

Two, I use one Email address for my regular Email address, and another that I never visit but which I use to give to websites that I want to sign up with, so I don't get flooded with unwanted Emails.

Three, like Chai2 pointed out, some people want an Email address for their personal life, and a different one for their professional life.

So that's why some people find Gmail and other Email addresses useful.

You misunderstand the article.

Most Americans have multiple passwords that we use daily. We have one for our email. We have one for our bank. We have one for Able2know. We have another one for Amazon.

(Slightly off topic, if you are using the same password for all of these things, you are making a big mistake that will make it easy for criminals to steal your money or your identity.)

Having all of these passwords is a pain... and besides, most people don't know enough and can't be bothered to actually have good passwords (i.e. ones that can't be easily hacked).

Google wants to replace all of these passwords (i.e. for your bank, able2know etc) with a single security service that they supply. Your bank, or Amazon or Able2know would pay Google a small fee for the right to use the google security services, and in return Google will provide the bank's customers with a way to logon that is both more secure and more convenient. You already can see this with some services that now provide a "log in with google" button. You may have seen this yourself (I use bitbucket that provides this way to log on).

Personally with all of the problems that people have with passwords... I think this is a very good idea.

If you have a Youtube account and is active in posting videos, you might want to set up a Google account that will be associated with your Youtube account. Then when you get comments on your Youtube activity, you can see it on your Google account. It seems to be like a buffer if you don't want to reply to a comment publicly on Youtube. Otherwise, you can use your Google email account like a regular email.

Thanks, Tes. I'm familiar with the basic purpose of Google and use it frequently but if you have a moment I wonder if you might mention other services that come with their Gmail of which I'm unaware

Thanks again