If this isn't the sign of a product with declining use, I don't know what is. Of course it isn't news that few people use Yahoo mail anymore, but the fact that it's worth it to Yahoo to turn those emails off is interesting.
This is a way worse then just disabling unused old accounts and, say, deleting emails stored there.
Yahoo is going to "resell"(1) these accounts. This will create all kind of privacy problems, and potential for abuse: gaining access to other services through resetting passwords there, impersonating users, people receiving private communications not intended for them, etc.
And all this for what purpose? Give few lucky ones get a coveted email address like [email protected] instead of [email protected]?
(1) "Resell" is the not quite accurate word here as they are going to give it for free, but I can't come with a better word.
yahoo is trading a sliver of goodwill from people that can now get their name of choice for incredibly pissed off former users that lost emails they relied on. Just because they havn't logged into them, doesn't mean they weren't using them. EX: i use a yahoo email for an ebay account I regularly use, but because of ebay's messaging I never log into yahoo. If i'm not the only person on earth that does this, there will be bad results from this 'house cleaning'.
The point is email address arent just for getting emails, they're used as identities online.
How horrible and shortsighted. Yahoo is actively inviting ill will and complexity.
Thought about it, but doesn't sounds quite right too: Yahoo didn't use these identities, it provided them to the users.
Anyway I don't want to be pedantic here, just as long as it was clear what I tried to say, and nobody misunderstood that I accuse Yahoo literary selling its user accounts to the third party, I am happy. :)
Maybe. My perspective is that Yahoo! did some research on why people left, stopped using, or never considered Y! as their mail service. I presume one of the responses is that people dislike non-vanity addresses. Instead of [email protected], the only variations that remain include thomasted110@ or tedthomasemail@. Ugh.
A simple query would show that these vanity addresses are sitting stagnant. A touch of PR and awareness instills or revives interest.
I think an optimistic view is that Yahoo! is willing to cut the fat and take chances on reuniting strayed in addition to inviting new users.
Even leaving all negative conservatives of this decision aside for now, it hardly does solves anything.
If thomasted110 is the best what's available for now at yahoo, there will be, simplifying a bit, 109 another unhappy users (thomasted1..thomasted109) + tedthomas_xx users + other unhappy Ted Thomases settled for different username at yahoo.com.
None of them is aware if tedthomas will be available. Most of them will not even know that this grand redistribution will take place. In the end if tedthomas will be "reused" only one of them will be moderately happy, while others are no better of.
yahoo mail was my first mail 15 years ago. But the product hasnt evolved much yet. In my opinion , Yahoo lacks of the proper agile culture where products evolve gradually (like google products ). Look at yahoo groups , feels like 1999 ...
So they can buy start-up all they want , yahoo has a cultural problem. definetly , at least if they want to look relevant.
