Overview:

Gmail is Google's free email service that utilizes cloud computing.  It can be accessed from any mobile device, laptop, or desktop computer and has a 15GB shared storage across all of Google for individual accounts and unlimited for Google Apps for Educators accounts.

Video: 

Uses:
 

• Converts office documents to HTML format  

Attach the office document to a message and send it to one's own Gmail account. When the mail arrives, open it and click “View as HTML."

• Can be used as an MP3 Player

Self-send a file and select the MP3 option to play it without downloading the song.

• Creates an Open ID

For sites that only accept a URL as an OpenID field, use  openid-provider.appspot.com. This site, built on Google App Engine, allows one to create a OpenID URL from her/his Google Account Credentials. Login with a Gmail username and password and the site will provide you a URL that can be used on regular OpenID- accepting sites.

• Provides Online Storage

Gmail provides a virtually unlimited online space that typical users find impossible to fill up with emails alone. GMail Drive is a shell extension for Windows that adds the Gmail storage as a disk in My Computer. All operations that normally executed with a regular hard drive – copy, paste, drag and drop - work for Gmail drive, too, storing data in Google clouds.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• "Stacks" and organizes conversations into threads.
• Has very thorough malware and virus checking.
• Offers a one-stop portal for calendaring, file storage, photo hosting, YouTube, blogging, financial advice, and more.
• Provides 10+ GB of email storage space
• Contains 25MB per email capacity
• Has strong uptime
• Supplies numerous rich text features
• IMAP / POP3 and combining multiple email boxes into your Gmail
• Allows keystroke shortcuts
• Ability to create priority inbox 
• Filters spam
• Incorporates the power and speed of Google 
• Can be used with external domains (e.g. @kent.edu) 

Cons:*

• Limits reply messages to a small screen 
• Incorporates advertising when user reads or replies to email 
• Provides "labels" instead of folders
• Limits integration to Google+ social media
• Does not allow for un-deleting
• Uses plain text features
• Google indexes your emails to provide search capabilities and target ads 

*For more detailed descriptions, go to http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/guidesfavorites/fl/Review-Why-Gmail-Is-Good-and-Bad.htm

Alternatives:

Outlook Express: Microsoft's email service.
 
Thunderbird: A free email service offered by Mozilla.

Yahoo Mail: An email service that offers 1 TB of free email storage.

Zimbra: Subscription email service that offers private cloud storage. 

 
Zoho: Ad-free email targeted towards businesses and professionals.
 

Resources: 

Babauta, L. (n.d.) Getting Free of Google's Grip: The Top 10 Alternatives [Web log post]. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/getting-free-of-googles-grip-the-10-top-alternatives.html

Gil. P. (2015, June). Why Gmail is good and bad. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from 

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/guidesfavorites/fl/Review-Why-Gmail-Is-Good-and-Bad.htm 

Google (n.d.). Gmail Help Center. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from https://support.google.com/mail/?hl=en#topic=3394144 

Google For Education (n.d.). Google Gmail: Introduction. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from 

https://www.google.com/edu/training/get-trained/gmail/introduction.html