Posty's Notes^TM

Messages from the Free Email Provider Guy^TM

What's in a Name?

July 21, 2000

Interesting. . .very interesting. I didn't think you could do it. I honestly didn't! But you did! You actually surprised the ol' Post-meister!

I have been busy the last several weeks impressing the staff with my prowess at estimating the outcomes of our polls. . .with nearly perfects mark thus far, if I do say so myself, I have wowed the masses. I thought that the current poll would be the easiest yet--predicting why our wonderful, brilliant visitors choose their free email providers. To be fair to me, I did predict that Pop3 accessibility would be a frontrunner. . .but I honestly never suspected that beneath all of the savvy web smarts and utter internet brilliance our visitors exhibit lurked the heart of someone incredibly hip!

So, imagine ol' Posty's surprise as the figures have mounted up and "Cool Email Address" is neck and neck with the top choice! It has been the topic of conversation around FEPG.net all week. . .and everyone has offered interesting theories to the question that has been raised: What's in a Name?

One staffer thinks that it is easier to remember a cool name. A marketing person was sure that it is another testimony that life is all about image. One mucky muck is convinced that our demographics must be off or that everyone lied about being older than they are-after all, adults don't care about cool email addresses. . .do they? The guy who came in to fix a window thought that the internet is full of wackos who don't have the horse sense God gave 'em. . .

But I digress.

I put on my Posty-thinking-cap and I believe I've come up with the real reason: Our visitors are more internet-savvy than even we realized. Only a year or so ago, most people were paying for email accessibility. . .they had never heard of Visto.com. . .they were convinced that free meant cheap and unreliable. Today's internet traveler is much more sophisticated (with our visitors being the crème-de-le-crème, of course) and know that the providers out there, for the most part, have risen in quality, capability, and reliability.

So, if you have a reliable provider. . .who has a great suite of features. . .with a quality, professional interface, well, heck! Why not have a great email address to go along with it! The industry has laid down the foundation of function and dependability, so now it only makes sense to clothe it all in a manner reflecting your tastes, hobbies, profession, or personality.

One very cool discovery that we recently made fits in perfectly with this cool email address theme - Nameplanet.com. They have scooped up a zillion domain names (these are surnames-which, to Americans, are called "last names" :} ) and you can actually get your own name as your email address ... you know, like joe@smith.com or mary@patterson.com. It's a free email provider, too, with a suite of great features, so, if you really are into this cool email address thing. . .how about considering your own name? Check them out at Nameplanet.com ...

By the way. . .keep those surprises coming!

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