OMG...Comcast doesn't do IMAP?

[Greg the dogsitter]

I'm trying to help out with my mom's account. I see instructions on Comcast's site for POP, but not for IMAP. I find this hard to believe...

GtDS

[deckeda]

Don't know that BellSouth/AT&T ever has either. I sorta haven't expected most ISPs to encourage us to store our email on their servers. That's a cost to them, is it not?

[Greg the dogsitter]

I'm sure it costs money, but I expect lots of companies to do things for me that cost them money!

Edit: Sorry - not trying to argue with you. But POP-only (which I've just confirmed) seems awfully archaic. This means that someone with both a desktop and laptop machine would see two different sets of content in their mailboxes. Yuck!

[onthedownlow]

I think we all agree on this, but it has 'always' been that way for most all ISPs...unless you have a business account with them (usually).

[Zoidberg]

"But POP-only (which I've just confirmed) seems awfully archaic"

Not trying to sound flip, but does this surprise you? It's Comcast. I imagine most cable internet providers are the same.

My suggestion would be to switch her to Gmail (which will be easier all around for her); I put my mom on my .Mac (er, MobileMe) account some time ago and it makes it a lot easier for her to check mail & etc. away from home. (Big plus is Gmail will likely be much, much better at filtering out spam & etc.)

[Jimmypoo]

Comcast PERMITS it though.... so set her up with a Google account via Mail.app.

Also... why would two machines see different things in their box? Simply leave the POP mail on the server for a day, and make sure that both machines POP several times a day.

Or better yet, leave it on the server for a week. I have had as many as 3 machines all coordinated just fine via the above method.

[raz]

Consider yourself fortunate to have POP. My brother's ISP in (whatever the phone company is in Denver) outsources their email to hotmail, so he's stuck with HTTPmail.

[deckeda]

[quote Zoidberg] ... My suggestion would be to switch her to Gmail (which will be easier all around for her); I put my mom on my .Mac (er, MobileMe) account some time ago and it makes it a lot easier for her to check mail & etc. away from home. (Big plus is Gmail will likely be much, much better at filtering out spam & etc.)
I second this suggestion. After you set up Gmail for IMAP and Mail.app, it's seamless and reliable.

In regards to spam, I heard that each time a Gmail user flags a piece of spam, it actually helps all other users not see that spam again. Something about how they leverage their network or proprietary technology in a way that an individual ISP can't. In other words, messages in Gmail flagged as spam aren't merely filtered.

[Jimmypoo]

[quote deckeda]

I second this suggestion. After you set up Gmail for IMAP and Mail.app, it's seamless and reliable.
You DO NOT "second" it. You THIRD'd IT!!!

[ztirffritz]

I switched my Mom to Gmail when they finally got internet access. She wanted to use Verizon's email address and I strongly protested. I switched her and my dad to a domain name that I set up with email hosted by Google. Even if google goes under, I can move the email to another host and she keeps the same address.