So for a while I've thought about the pros of having an IMAP enabled account but haven't had a real strong need for one until the past two weeks. Now that I have my iPhone and a desktop computer, keeping my e-mails all synchronized has been an ordeal.
My laptop remained the central hub (where the e-mails would be downloaded and then deleted from the server). However what if I don't want to use my laptop for a day or two? Then I get the e-mails on my iPhone (read and delete them from there), get them on the desktop (mark as read cuz I saw them on my phone), and then when I use the laptop I have all of the same e-mails to wade through once more (plus a couple of new ones). Enter the beauty of IMAP: everything synchronizes to the server and so if I view the message at any time/location, it marks it as read and doesn't alert me to it later.
However, Comcast doesn't provide IMAP functionality (cheapskates probably don't want to host everyone's e-mail for eternity) so I have to jimmy-rig the process. I now automatically forward all incoming mail to a Gmail account and I've worked to have all of my (formerly) Outlook filters label the messages correctly and archive them. It's taken a large chunk of my evening, but I expect it to be a time-saver later down the road. The Comcast account will still be present and functional, but I'll begin phasing in the Gmail account as my primary account (I'll let family members know what it is). So anyway, this post was probably too technical for most of my loved-ones, but it's been an exciting part of my life today: I look forward to playing with the whole setup and reporting in a couple of days.
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