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Snailsville: Gmail slowing down? And when will Firefox get back its old zip? (And maybe go on to be a terrific .epub reader as well?)
January 19, 2008 | 5:26 pm
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By David Rothman
Is Google skimping on servers for Gmail? It’s become a real snail, especially with the new chat capabilities added.
Worse, I wonder if Google just might be delaying some actions to “allow” you more time to see text ads just above your message lists. Please, Google, don’t ape Microsoft and bloat up your apps.
G-treachery
I’m even getting a little g-treachery along the way. I think I’ve saved a message. But the damn thing won’t transmit, and ultimately I have to abandon it.
Maybe Larry and Sergey should take a little time out from wireless and whatever and return to the basics. Search is Google main thing, but I suspect that regardless of IMing, email is still the big app for most Net users or at least one of them.
The e-book and library angles
If Google is cutting back on service levels, it’s just another reminder that this is a profit-driven company rather than a philanthropy. All the more reason for librarians and others to beware of letting Google do everything.
What Google giveth it can take away.
And speaking of slowdowns…
Is the pokiness contagious? Firefox, whose people have an alliance with Google, continues to be a real memory hog, and on more than a few days I feel like ditching it for Opera, which, alas, is at war with Gmail (all kinds of confusing gaps between words—perhaps G’s fault). I’d have abandoned Firefox long ago if it hadn’t been for the plug-ins and the mediocrity of most of its rivals. Firefox 3, now in beta, needs to be much better. A little more resources and commonsense on speed issues, please?
Why are the Firefox people so bleepin’ deaf to howls from users? Yep, I know you can experiment with optimization, but I’ve already devoted enough time.
Interestingly, Firefox might be turned into a hell of an e-book reader for natively rendering .epub (caveat: some have raised questions in this regard about the related container format). Despite the torture from the slow speed, I’m rooting for the the Firefox people to get their acts together, especially given all the security issues of Internet Explorer. Meanwhile check out the still-evolving OpenBerg reader-plug-in for Firefox—it can render .epub.
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Comments:
Opera is amazingly slim and fast! What a RSS junkie such as I misses, though, is the Sage feed reader plugin which handles even long blog rolls without slowing down the browser. Opera has a built-in feed reader but doesn’t cope as well with long RSS lists – at least that’s my impression with trying a blog roll of 200+ items.
I’m a bit disappointed at the cynicism you show towards Google and its services. When has Google given you cause to believe that they would engage in anything along the lines of what you describe?
There’s a very definite culture of trust at Google. “Don’t be evil” isn’t just a motto, it’s something people take to heart, and actions like you describe would definitely come firmly under the heading of “evil”. Of course, I don’t expect to be able to convince you of sincerity just by telling you it’s so, unfortunately.
And finally, if you’re experiencing bugs, don’t forget to report them – they can’t be fixed if nobody reports them.
Mandatory disclaimer: It should go without saying that I most definitively do not speak for Google in any way shape or form.
David,
Have you updated your anti-spyware database and cleaned out your system recently?
FrF and Sherman…
F: I currently rely most of all on Google Reader rather than Opera RSS. But as far as the browser itself, how right you are! Fast.
S: Appropriate questions. I use AVG and get the database updates regularly. I am behind on some maintenance as far as the system in general, but I’d be disappointed if Firefox were more sensitive to this than the others. Are you using Firefox and what are your experiences? What system? At any rate, I’m open minded. I’d love to find out I was doing something wrong and be able to correct it. One discouraging thing is that others also have a speed issue. Further ideas welcome.
Thanks,
David
To A Googler:
Many thanks for your note. I’m assuming I’m not the only one with these problems. If anyone from Gmail wants to catch up with me, I’m reachable at the usual dr NOSPAM teleread.com. Or better they can call me at 703-370-6540 (I have a busy mailbox and tell people to call if they don’t get a fast answer). Far from being on a jihad against Google, I actually own a tiny sliver of stock for retirement purposes. But, again, I’ve been most disappointed with Gmail’s speed compared to the past. I’m certainly happy to help within the limits of my time.
Thanks,
David
Addendum: If you indeed work for Google, I’d really like to chat with you about e-book standards. Talk about a chance to do good (as opposed to simply, “Do no evil!”).
Au contraire, it’s all the more reason for librarians to flock to Google. What’s wrong with making money? More importantly, what’s wrong with making librarians money? Libraries should be getting a piece of the action just for allowing Google to access their books. Actually, Google loses money on scanning books right now, but it’s certainly good press. Besides that, a profit driven society has given us a lot of good things, including the major scanning effort on Google’s part. You’re condemning the very thing that jump started the whole process. More importantly, their profits are adding to your retirement. Google’s profit motives shouldn’t be what worries you.
Above comment in reference to quote: “If Google is cutting back on service levels, it’s just another reminder that this is a profit-driven company rather than a philanthropy. All the more reason for librarians and others to beware of letting Google do everything.”
>>>Worse, I wonder if Google just might be delaying some actions to “allow” you more time to see text ads just above your message lists.
You don’t know how many times I’ve wondered this about YahooMail too!
And “A. Googler” is gonna die of a freakin massive coronary when s/he finds out his/her gods have feet of clay somewhere down the road. Just like everyone else made of flesh. Puhleeze!
[...] Rothman says: If anyone from Gmail wants to catch up with me, I’m reachable at the usual dr NOSPAM [...]
I have noticed Gmail performance has slowed over the past few weeks. I also use Google Reader, and find it to be rather slow.
Gmail is where I live online. Sure, I use Twitter and Jaiku, and spend some of my time in the WordPress environment. But email is “mission critical” for me. It is my brain, my free-form database.
Please Google, make Gmail sing again. Soon.