Hacker News Reader

I note (for completeness) that if you pay for your mail service you get an escalation path that goes to a human.

I agree that it would be nice if the free accounts had this option too but having been inside the chocolate factory I can also see why this is not practical.

View on HN

You can't pay for @gmail.com addresses, or else I absolutely would. If I'm going to make everyone change the e-mail they send me things at, I'm sure as hell going to change it to a non-GMail address now.

Switching to a custom domain is a good idea even if you don't pay for Google Apps. Because if Google kicks you off for whatever reason, you just change your MX record and your email is fine.

YES. I see all these comments above saying "man I'm afraid of being totally dependent on gmail". Owning your own MX record is the way out of that situation.

Yes, it is absolutely prudent and a good way to handle things.

It is also not something which most people have heard they should do. It also requires you to be something of a power user to even understand. Many people are so far into this mistake that it would take time and even more technical expertise to dig out.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com