GMail: The Backlash?

this new version is not compatible with my browser at work so I can't email from my home account during the day which kind of sucks

The Gmail blog says that the big change was "responsive design" which will make the page conform to the size of its window. I approve of that, and I'm really glad they made the more diffuse spacing of objects optional bc I don't find the dense spacing crowded, I find it useful.

Does internet work?

Yes.

Let's fix it.

looks way too spaced out for me, irritating. guess I'll get used to it like I get used to every other dumb internet thing.

Even after switching to Compact display density? I hated the look until I figured out you could change that. My only qualm is that starred items don't stand out as much as they used to, but otherwise, it pretty much looks the same as it used to now.

xp: Click the lowermost of the two cogwheels in the top-right; there are two less airy settings to choose from.
I'm one of the few who thought Google Reader was improved by the redesign, but with gmail I'm sticking with the old look as long as I can. Mostly I dislike that some of the old text-links have been replaced with icons. I'm sure I'll get used to the icons in time, but ugh, not until I have to...

unread emails don't stand out as much as they used to. my gf leaves lots of unread stuff in her inbox, so this is driving her crazy.

I use the Tree theme (shows pictures of what the weather is doing, which is great! e.g., snow piling up on your icons, terrifying electrical storms) and the contrast btwn read and unread might be slightly lower, but it's still pretty clear.

However the new look works (or doesn't work -- I personally find it decreases legibility), there'll be an add-on within weeks to display it the old way.

contrast between read and unread is what matters to me and this looks way worse for that.

I see zero difference in the contrast between read and unread for the new look versus the old look.

(I am using the "Light" theme.)

Preview Dense

Yeh, I just switched back and forth between old and new and the contrast of read/unread was the same in Tree theme.

this new version is not compatible with my browser at work so I can't email from my home account during the day which kind of sucks

this is true of a lot of Google stuff, if your work uses a dud web browser like IE7 and does not let you install stuff on your PC. I mentioned this to a friend who works for Google, and he more or less laughed at me for working somewhere that uses IE7.

Eh, just in case my friend who works for Google reads this, that maybe is a bit of an exageration of his position, but he did seem to feel that people stuck with dud browsers are not a category of persons Google needs to worry about. Which is a shame - I fear that Google may be limiting their appeal to first world people with flash new computers capable of running all the latest web browsers and browser add-ons.

I mentioned this to a friend who works for Google, and he more or less laughed at me for working somewhere that uses IE7.

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0&qpcustomd=0

laughing at someone for using the most popular browser in the market is kind of stupid

Also, the appeal of Google in the first place was that it was so pared down and that it could be used on even the junkiest of 1994 computers. Dicks.

it's totally fine if Google wants to focus on tech nerds but they are effectively jettisoning over 50% of the market by doing so, which is just stupid no matter how you look at it

laughing at someone for using the most popular browser in the market is kind of stupid

Well, you might consider upgrading to 9 at least...

I have to deal with a website at work that requires me to use IE 6(!!). I use Opera for all other things, however, so that I don't have to use IE 6 all the time. I don't like Firefox or Chrome.

lol I wasn't even paying attention to the version number; working in tech has made me well aware of anti-IE snobbery (in fact, I participated in it for years)

I think my dev environment still has IE6 as the browser, lol.

Yeah our work still uses IE7 (tho we all use FF instead really)

I work for the largest employer in the state and we use IE8 on locked down computers.

i have used portable firefox in the past on government-locked-down computers. which was probably a bad idea

I mentioned this to a friend who works for Google, and he more or less laughed at me for working somewhere that uses IE7.

ugh tech nerds

My work employs over 4000 ppl and we're on IE8

tangential to this, is it just my Firefox upgrade or did Google recently become https?

Google or gmail? Gmail's https. Google doesnt seem to be for me tho. I did notice something weird at home this morning tho: I couldnt force it to stay on google.com.au (and thus be able to filter to "pages from Australia). It was reverting back to google.com each time. At work though it isnt doing this. I run NoScript at home, maybe that did something funny.

yah I have noscript too, but in the last few days the regular Google page (which I use as my homepage) has been coming up https, making it very inconvenient to navigate to other pages by c&p-ing in the address bar.

I don't like the lack of demarcation between the left sidebar and the emails when you open a mail - it's just all white background. There's probably a scheme that doesn't do this but icbf to look at all of them.

oh here we go, it's cause of my Blogger acct, this is fuckin creepy:

(Long Island, N.Y.) On October 18, 2011 Google Inc. announced on their blog that they would begin encrypting search engine results behind an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) connection for any users signed into their Google accounts while using Google.com. The official Google blog noted: “As part of our commitment to provide a more secure online experience, today we announced that SSL Search on https://www.google.com will become the default experience for signed in users on google.com.” As this change encrypts search queries from Google’s results pages, which the company claims is intended to provide improved user privacy, many familiar with the search industry question the change as the protection doesn’t extend out to pay-per-click advertisements, just algorithmic search results. Adding to the speculation is the fact that Google already offers an encrypted version of search provided a user has an interest in protecting them.

The change took place the same day as the announcement hit Google’s blog whereas anyone logged into their Google account would automatically be redirected from http://www.google.com to https://www.google.com (take notice the https://). The URLs look quite similar, but beyond the surface much more takes place. To understand what happens and how this changes effects long standing principles with the Internet, marketers and search engine optimizers, one needs to understand what exactly happens when someone performs a search.

hm its not doing that for me and im signed in (cos i have gmail running)

I feel really bad for encouraging anti-my Google friend scoffing.

this is true of a lot of Google stuff, if your work uses a dud web browser like IE7 and does not let you install stuff on your PC. I mentioned this to a friend who works for Google, and he more or less laughed at me for working somewhere that uses IE7.

yes that's my situation at work exactly, IE7 on desktops and no installation allowed. No prospect of an upgrade in sight either.

i just had to restart chrome to update and because NO flash on any site was working, with or without adblock on, and now i can't use gchat. i have a chat window open but it took away the place where i would type a message! also the update just sucks generally and chrome sucks!

i too am one of those overpaid, lazy, useless state employees who has a slow dell desktop from 1999 at work. i don't think our operating systems would support an IE upgrade, and if they would IT probably doesn't know about it. i can no longer read my gmail at work, but somehow the chat function works. it just says "Loading..." for hours if i try to read an email and the "sign out" link has just disappeared! it's too bad because i like to email myself pdfs from lexisnexis and i need to use my personal email for it because our employee email is outlook-based and outlook makes me want to kill myself. i can't even send a large attachment to my own work email because i won't get it and if i do it will take 10 minutes to open

If you have chrome, could you install opera instead? Or set gmail to basic HTML mode?

Oh I misread, guess chrome is home computer? Ah well... Opera's still way awesome

i can't read emails in standard view any more, just basic view, which doesn't auto update.

updating my browser is useless for me cuz i use camino. firefox is too heavy and my laptop is too old for chrome.

why do these fucking platforms never make improvements that make my life BETTER? it's always worse. something new i have to install or something i have to change or something that doesn't work. ALL THE TIME. who are these people and why are they doing this to me?

i. just. want. things. to. work. like. they've. worked. before.

Companies have to stop making software for antiquated equipment at some point.

my laptop is 5 years old! that is not antiquated!

or am i meant to buy a new one every year like those freaks who queue up outside apple stores?

http://www.old-computers.com/history/images/LearSiegler_ADM3A_System_1.jpg

5 years is like a lifetime for technology. I have a 4 year old iMac that is still going strong though.

Age of your laptop might not be the sole problem. My Vaio laptop is 4 years old and it's showing some signs of age (aside from some virus-related damage that I can't fix and is not worth spending money to fix) but it can certainly run Chrome and Firefox, etc. Maybe the laptop was semi-disposable to begin with and not meant to last 5 years.

xp

5 years is like a lifetime for technology.

so ordinary consumers are just meant to shell out every time technology advances? fuck those companies for real

This can't really be news to you....

chrome doesn't run on mac 10.4. why, i have no idea. surely it is not that hard to make it so that it does.

i guess they added an extra click if you want to 'reply all' in new view? good job.