Pretty easy, actually. It took my mom less than a week to get everything moved over from her ISP-provided email to using GMail instead. It then took about another week for her to change her address everywhere she had it listed and for everyone in her address book to switch to her new email address.

It really isn't as difficult to switch as people seem to think. And if I were worried about switching, I'd use GMail with an email address for my own domain (which I do with several addresses). That way it's pretty simple to move everything over to another service.

And sorry, I wasn't angry, just a little frustrated. I wasn't sure why you guys were so down on all this stuff. I know you use it, but you do seem to be simultaneously fearful of it. I guess I just don't let that stuff worry me too much...

*edit*
And I still maintain that it's just a freaking term. We use all sorts of terms that aren't specific, but we do it to make communication easier. When I tell someone "the cloud," it's a starting-off point. They understand that we're talking about data being stored on servers somewhere else on the web.


Yeah, but you could say that about a lot of terms. They get used as buzz terms by some people, and as regular dialog by others. I guess what I'm saying is: what's the big deal?