Yahoo will give email users unlimited storage later this month, according to the Wall Street Journal. Yahoo says it caught up to Google in the mail storage race a while back, but this is a move to out-Google Google. Rather than a few measley gigabytes of space (which most users don't come close to using), Yahoo is effectively offering infinite space. In a similar move, WSJ reports (subscription required), Microsoft will move to "take storage off the table as an issue" with Hotmail.
Storage actually is a big deal because it affects longevity. For example, my Gmail account has hundreds of messages that are quite old. However, my work account--managed by my company (eBay)--automatically deletes messages older than 90 days because of storage issues. The same is true for eBay the product. I love to keep my watched items on my "My eBay" page because I get to gaze at the cool things I've collected there.
I appreciate things related to Abraham Lincoln, but I don't have to own every one of them. Instead, I set up my own little museum in My eBay. The problem is, the curator of that museum tosses my precious collection at the 90 day mark--again, because of storage space.
Lately, I've taken up the practice of emailing eBay items to myself...at my Gmail account. It takes a little work but, to me, it's worth the effort. I actually think Google likes it, too. Look what happens:
If I use the "email to a friend" link on eBay, eBay sends me a message that looks like this. It's not that compelling. (To be fair, eBay would have shown me a picture had the seller paid for the gallery feature.) In fact, the content of the email is such that it triggers Google to place ads in the sidebar like "Check Spam Blacklists" or, I kid you not, "Get Girls Number." (Note, though, that I have to horizontally scroll to see this since the email that eBay sends is so wide. Then again, I have my monitor rotated 90 degress so that it is taller than it is wide.)
Here's the email I created myself. I copied the relevant part of the seller's description so I'd be able to search on text (I don't care about the other text he includes about how I'm supposed to pay right away and please see his eBay Store). I also copied the item number for the same reason. Then I included a screen shot, which I easily capture with SnagIt.
The interesting part is the unintented consequence--which, of course, Google intended all along. I've inadvertently created a way to shop elsewhere for related items. Because this seller had such a terse description, Google could only tell me about "art prints." (For some reason Google ignored the repeated "Mt Rushmore" phrase.) But had the seller written a better description (which, BTW, would help Google direct buyers to his eBay listing), Google would also be able to scan this email and show higher-quality matches for shopping for related items off of eBay whenever I open this email again.
Bottom line: the storage thing is a bigger deal than it seems.
