It’s now possible to sign up for a Gmail account without needing to receive an invite from an existing Gmail user first.
The good news for people who want to try Google Talk but lack the required email account is that they can now generate their own invitation to get one.
The bad news is that the process is only slightly less complicated than staying awake while reading about trains in Russian literature.
Sign up for Gmail using your mobile phone, says the Gmail web site. Enter your mobile number (US users only for now), and fill in the word verification box on the page, and Google will generate an invitation code to send to you via SMS.
The process only costs whatever your cellular provider may be charging for the incoming message. With the code, you can sign up for the very useful Gmail service, and from there use Google Talk.
Google sees the benefit of shutting out nasty, tricksy spammers with the process as outweighing the detriment of shutting out non-users of mobile phones completely. The Gmail help center helpfully suggests appealing to a friend with an existing Gmail account, or at least a mobile phone, to assist those users.
It’s a tough balancing act for Google, make no mistake about it. Criminal junk mailers would immediately take advantage of any opening they could find in Gmail, and for all we know there may be a lot of Gmail accounts belonging to spammers now.
Still, Google Talk is a beta product, and imposing requirements on beta users has plenty of precedent. The mobile phone verification bit will probably get the company some more negative comments thrown their way. But give them credit for at least trying to find a way to make Gmail and Talk available without turning the former into a pit full of spammers.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
