[megablast]

No, I meant locked in. Hey, I enjoy the gmail UI as well, but most of my non-tech friends do not care. This is all I was saying.

And yes, I mean locked in, because if everybody knows you at [e-mail], or [e-mail], you can just move to gmail easily. Sure, you can setup forwarders, email everyone, but this is a non trivial step for most people. I am confused why people here can not see this.

[jwdunne]

I'm pretty certain the UI does matter to more than you make out. I just don't think they know how to express it. From what I've seen, getting the UI right is half the battle--look at MySpace vs Facebook.

Though I am certainly seeing where you're coming from with second part. It is a hassle that I don't think most would embark upon. I don't know but it seems switching emails could be a problem that needs solving. There certainly are ways I can think of that would make this easier.