Jim Hu, a writer from News.com, wrote about how AOL plans to open its e-mail system to third party applications like Eudora & Outlook. Jim claims the new system, which will be launched this Thursday, is designed to stem the subscriber loss in the dial-up business and potentially gain new subscribers.
I think Jim is missing the big picture on this issue. The big picture is that the competitive landscape of web-based email has forever been shifted because of Gmail, Google's 1000 MB web-based email product announced on April 1st. By allowing users to now use third party applications to manage their email, AOL has essentially upped their email "storage capabilities", since users could now archive emails through an application like Outlook. I really view this move as a simple response to the Gmail announcement that may help stem the tide of users switching to Gmail when it becomes available to the public.
If Gmail doesn't launch soon, and more companies are able to react like AOL has, one would have to question the decision of Google to announce the service so early.
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