Robert, Please read my original post before criticizing what I wrote.
No where within that post did I "rant" about what Microsoft is doing with their new product offering. I simply stated that both small ISPs and Imail have some new competition, nothing more, nothing less. Incidently, I do agree with you about the "technical display". However, in my experience with such front ends, they are frequently security risks waiting to happen. (My background speaking here.) I also stated, by way of my challenge to Imail, that this might be an imputes for small ISPs to abandon their e-mail hosting offering. As we know all too well, web hosting and e-mail have become commodities. I recently lost 2 accounts to South America where they found a hosting company that will host them, with "unlimited bandwidth" for only $3.00 per month. They were back in 2 months after finding out how slow access to their websites because. Not a realistic choice, but something that is making our potential customers think twice about spending what it takes for us to make a profit. We have only one thing to offer, customer service. If we can do that better than anyone else, we stand a fighting chance to survive. In the future, please do not put words in my mouth. Thank you, Bruce Barnes -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert E. Spivack Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 09:35 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] OT - Microsoft Announces Major Competition for all Small ISPs You should try it before you rant. I have actually signed-up as a beta and used it. It is an incredible technical display of what can be done pushing SharePoint technology to the limit and using AJAX or AJAX-like GUI tools. However, web email still pushes you off to Hotmail/MSN style interface complete with 60% of the screen being used by ads and other content that is not actually email. Although the technology is impressive (has anyone ever seen a full browser-based site builder tool that is actually built entirely on top of SharePoint?), the business case is less compelling. Sure, there is free domain registration (street value is $8 or less given the low priced domain registrars now available to the public), some email accounts, and a sitebuilder that also can be switched off to use FrontPage instead, and some pre-built mini-apps using SharePoint, but I don't see this as earth-shattering. Some press analysts are bashing it totally as just "rehashed" stuff already seen in the earlier bcentral or other sitebuilder offerings from existing companies. The biggest complaint is that this really nothing to do with "web office" except a blurring marketing name. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bruce Barnes Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 3:33 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [IMail Forum] OT - Microsoft Announces Major Competition for all Small ISPs OK List; We've all got some new competition as of today. Microsoft just opened the doors to Microsoft Office Live, a web based product that gives our customers a website and up to 50 e-mail accounts AT NO COST, during the "beta" period. They also offer full collaboration of contacts, file sharing, secure areas, 50 MB of web site storage, 25 GB of data transfer each month, daily backup, and a full interact with Outlook 2000 and higher. After the beta period, this will cost $29.95 per month. There are lesser services that will remain perpetually free. Time for Ipswich and Imail to get their act together and get an actual WORKING 2006 version of Imail working and into our hands. It needs to have EXCELLENT security - none of this everyone gets FULL access to all directories - the just doesn't fly in my book and we're waiting to see what happens with the next release before we decide on what to do. Note to Imail tech support: Thanks for the invite to participate in the webinar, but I have 4 surgery centers to get updates completed on by the end of the month and they come first. Because a software vendor collaborated with a Medicare billing agent, the centers can't bill until I have all the software, servers, databases and workstations updated. They just notified us last week that they were going to move the deadline up from October, 2006 to the beginning of last week. That amounts to about 100K PER DAY in accounts receivable that are just sitting there, not billed, until I'm done. Bruce Barnes ChicagoNetTech Inc To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
