"Why is this never-ending obsession for an invitation to
beta test something which eventually will be free of cost", asked my yet not so geek friend. Well, I had no answer but that's been the case for most geeks out there (ahem, including me, ahem). A recent article at
Wired.com,
My Left Arm for a Gmail Account, says it all about the Gmail craze. As someone posted on
Slashdot, "its a way for the net dorks to get revalidated...", really, is it just that?
Now that Yahoo and Rediff have started giving comparable storage space accounts and MSN will be joining them soon, then why is the Gmail craze still on. Well, the key thing here is that they all have their existing users, who have already taken almost all possible combinations of a human name. After all 99% of us don't have unique names. I am pretty sure Osma Bil Laden won't even get his choice email id now.
So, basically the only logical reason I can think of is that the rush to get a 1 GB email a/c with your name preference before someone else does. No wonder initially there were bids running into huge numbers at
eBay for an early invite. Now as more invites pour in, that craze is cooling off, right? Yea, sure, there are still too many gmail-starved out there. These guyz are going crazy at Free Gmail Invite give-out websites. The webmasters of these sites are practically working full-time to be able to hold the huge traffic coming in. So I went and reviewed some of the most popular ones:
Gmail Swap
As the name suggests, its a place where you can basically put up anything for an invite. Developed by a dude named Sean Michaels, the site has offers from
shining new digital cameras to simple a
Christmas card every Christmas to the infamous,
My left arm. Though on second thought I just might go for the card offer, i haven't received a real card since these ecard sites started. (P.S. before anyone mails me, i don't have any extra gmail invites yet).
Gmail Machine
A random number Lotto, gives out an invite to anyone who gets a specified number out 100,000 randomized ones. So basically the only skill you need to win here is to know how to hit the refresh button and basically have no life. Last week I tried my luck on the website and it was being practically hit by more than 1000s of visitors every second. Now there's a million dollar idea to boast the traffic of your site. Though these hits are kinda useless as most of them aren't unique, but I just think the guy who made this Site, (Scott) is a pretty intelligent being, as one thing is for sure, he is getting some real publicity and I won't be surprised if he is approached to put ads before the random number is displayed.
Gmail Chain offer
This one is the simplest, just plead or according to the site promise to beta test and create chain of gmail invites. But make sure you pass it to your friend to create a chain, or else!, well they can't do anything about it then
. I posted a simple beta testing promise to check out what happens, well nothing has happened for about a week now. There were almost 500 posts above me, so I am expecting my invitation anytime around 2-3 months after Gmail's public release.
There are loads of other ones going up everyday, just try a simple search on google to be surprised. Contests ranging from Designing Templates to basic Beatles quizzes, there are just too many of them. The contests are easy and very frequent, though it seems getting a real invite might just not be.
btw, Sean, Scott, got any spare Invites for me?
