[sokoloff]

The convenience of having the same view (via IMAP) of my email from multiple devices is worthwhile for me. It also makes supporting my parents from hundreds of miles away much easier when they are on IMAP vs when I had them on POP3 before. "Mom, your email is also on your phone, your laptop, your desktop, and on Dad's computer. It's all the same."

I already trust my provider to handle my email once; there doesn't seem to be a vastly larger trust requirement on my part for them to handle it multiple times. (And epsilon additional privacy concern.)