imho, most people do not understand the deal.

and very few people recognize a more subtle ethical dilemma. by agreeing to google's tos not only are you giving up your privacy, you are also surrendering the privacy of the people with whom you send and receive email. something almost everyone would acknowledge that they don't have the right to do without first acquiring consent.

sylpheed is better:
    http://sylpheed.sraoss.jp/en/

it uses MH for storage (similar to maildir - a requested tbird enhancement that has fallen on deaf ears for years)

here's another perspective.

i have not verified any of the details (which is why i'm posting a link to the article here). and while i'm skeptical given the free-energy theme of the web site on which it resides, i'm capable of imagining some of the details of the article might be true.

Mother of all gushers could kill Earth's oceans
http://pesn.com/2010/05/02/9501643_Mother_of_all_gushers_could_kill_Earths_oceans/

imho, the best email-only provider is http://www.tuffmail.com/

when living and communicating locally, it is possible to live without knowing exactly what time it is. for instance, you could say, "i'll meet you near dawn," and that is relevant to me if i live near you.

i live in an intentional community, and we serve community meals at approximately 12:30 (for lunch) and 6PM (for dinner). so i could choose to go down to the lodge for a meal at those times (and probably end up waiting a while), or i could wait for the bell. if i am too far away to hear the bell, i have to rely on clock time.

the only things i really have to be on time for tend to be institutional and less personal. like getting my kids to school or getting my daughter to a ballet lesson. even so, these things don't always start exactly on time. if everyone attending the school or the lesson lived locally, we could rely on a bell or some other signal to let us know when to gather.

i think it's interesting to examine my "schedule" for places where i am ruled by time, and places where i can be looser. especially in these winter holidays, free from much of my schedule (i work when i want to), i have been enjoying being mostly free of the clock. i'm wanting to extend that more into regular life - i notice that my days seem much more expansive and spontaneous.