Yes, I know it’s because it was already taken.
As was noted upthread, as long as an older mail provider is giving you good spam filterning, and has kept their security protocols up-to-date (to keep your account from getting hacked), there’s nothing wrong with still using Yahoo (or AOL, or Hotmail, or whatever), from a functionality standpoint.
The “issue” is about perception, particularly if you’re looking for a job; using a Yahoo email address on your resume and on your communications with potential employers will likely suggest to them that you are (a) older, and (b) out of touch, technologically-speaking.
Keep in mind that with ProtonMail, you can add dots, underscores and hyphens into the address.
For example, straightdope@protonmail.com, straight.dope@protonmail.com, straight-dope@protonmail.com, straight_dope@progonmail.com, s.t.r.a.i.g.h.t-d.o.p.e@protonmail.com, and st_ra.ig-ht_do.pe@protonmail.com are all the same address.
When replying to an e-mail like the above as well as with aliases, the reply uses the e-mail address that was received and not the way you signed up.
Edit: With gmail, you can users periods in the username and it is still the same address. They apparently don’t permit hyphens and underscores.
One of my friends still uses a Prodigy email address that’s he’s kept from 1992? It’s from when we were still in high school.
Got it! Thanks
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is kids using yahoo or hotmail addresses for the irony factor. And by kids, I mean people in their 30s.
I used those types of aliases 20-25 years ago, but I stopped because back then lots of places wouldn’t accept them. The worst I ever dealt with was IBM. They accepted +aliases when they subscribed you to their mailing lists, but they would not accept a +alias when unsubscribing.
They subscribed you to a bunch of mailing lists anytime you emailed them for any reason, and there was no way to leave, because the unsubscribe end of their software rejected “+” as an illegal character in an email address.
Lifehack! Many of those wifi portals don’t care what email address you put in, they just want something. I usually use ceo@business.name or root@business.name for wherever I am. Very rarely one wants to email an access code, but usually not, because how will you get it without wifi?
I’ve done that! I’ve used things like “fake.name@AOL.com” or a celebrity. I never thought of using THEIR domain, I really like it.
I saw someone’s business card (in one of those “throw your card in and win a free lunch!” fishbowls). The guy was a lawyer and after his address, phone, fax, email, and “cellular” phone, he had: Ship-to-Shore: 84RX-157.1-WM 6934.
That just announced “Dooooouchebag!” Like the customers who want to get higher on the wait list at my buddy’s dockside restaurant because "Ahem, we, uh, came by yacht…?"
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Teaching Design students, every once in a while we’ll get the “hipster trilby/vest/Italian shoes” type who WILL look down on anything Old or Average, especially your email address. But even if you did switch to his preferred Obscure Encrypted-in-Icelandic email, he’d find something else about you that would allow him to feel superior.
One thing that bothers me with many people is that the complain a lot about security and privacy on the Internet. Their first steps should include to stop posting their private lives on Facebook and start encrypting e-mail when possible.
I mostly use my Hotmail address when dealing with spammy stuff, but sometimes I have to give a website real life info about me, which I don’t want linked to that account (including my real name). That’s when I take advantage of the + sign.
My canonical Gmail address has a dot in it. It seems most spam places that would take off the + also get rid of the dot, so I have such emails automatically sent to trash.
I’ve had the very, very occasional false negative with spam, but no false positives in over a decade of Gmail usage. So I don’t tend to check my spam folder anymore. The only exception is when I’m expecting an automated email (like for registering an account) and it doesn’t arrive. But, even though I check, it hasn’t been in there in ages. The last example was when Twitch had something messed up on their end and weren’t properly authenticating their notification emails. But then the only thing I was losing was a notification that I would see on Twitter anyways.
I’ve used the same e-mail since 1996. I signed up with Mindspring, which merged with Earthlink in 2000. Since I was an “early adopter,” my e-mail address is [simple four-letter first name] at mindspring. No numbers or punctuation. People comment on it fairly frequently.
When Mindspring merged, I was able to get [my last name] at earthlink. Again, very simple.
Since the Earthlink plan includes 10 mailboxes, I have eight other e-mail addresses that I use for various purposes, as well as my business, Outlook, and Gmail e-mail addresses. People act like it must be complicated to have a number of different e-mail addresses, but you can just add them to a Thunderbird profile and they all show up in the same window. I can use the drop-down to select the outgoing mail identity. Very, very handy.
Harris Ranch Restaurant in California has its own little private airport. Diners who fly in get a discount by flashing their pilot license at the cashier.
I’ve been using a Comcast email address since around 2000. I’m officially retired but still look for temporary assignments. (So far nothing.) Would potential employers feel the same?
I had an AOL account from my childhood, when it was required to register with Disney Interactive. The password died with my mother.
Dad still uses his AOL client every day, he was an early adopter judging by his handle.
I have a Hotmail account from my High School days, when we were required to make one for dual enrollment. Haven’t used it since.
Still use GMail for work daily, via Thunderbird. But I also regularly send and receive letters for work.
Coworkers have personal Yahoo! and AOL accounts. My personal email is via GMail via Thunderbird. I don’t normally use my personal email to communicate with people, Straight Dope excepted. Well, these days I usually log in to post.
~Max
My WAG: a Comcast address likely won’t be looked down on quite as much as an AOL or Hotmail address, but particularly if you’re looking for tech-oriented gigs, it may still feel dated.
I should add, I still see the occasional EarthLink or CompuServe email at work. Much less frequently than AOL or Yahoo! or Comcast addresses.
~Max
I still use my college email from 1987. It was originally hosted on a Vax 11/780. It became my work email after I graduated and accepted a position in IT.
I couldn’t keep up with all the different platforms the email server has lived on. It finally grew so big with students, staff, faculty, and retirees that Gmail began hosting it. It’s odd because we still use the .edu address.
Thankfully the Spam filters are pretty good. Otherwise such an old email address would be useless.
I also use my personal Hotmail and Gmail accounts. My yahoo account has been inactive for at least 12 years.
Hotmail. And I’m proud of the fact that my address starts with five letters only, which screams “Early Adopter” (ish).
My experience with younger managers (and they’re ALL younger than I am now…) is that almost all the seniors they know are resistant to change.
They’ve tried to get dad to stop butt-dialing his first iPhone (“Damn bells and whistles!”), and granny still calls to ask “Did you get that email I sent? Did the cute kitten come through? It was pretty colorful, so I wasn’t sure if I should’ve sent a black & white photograph…”
So ANYTHING on a resume or in person* that even hints at “doesn’t embrace new technology, and may not easily learn it” should be axed. Not a problem when a Gmail account is quick and free. Mine “points to” my usual email, so all my Gmail mail shows up there.
*do let a young’un critique your hair and wardrobe… I showed up in a sportcoat and tie to a company that was all ripped t-shirts; CEO had wrinkly painter’s pants as well).
I used to stop there often when driving from LA to SF. I sat next to a couple of CHP guys one time, and their uniforms were a bit odd-looking. I asked, and they said they were part of air patrol (or whatever it was called – this was years ago) and had flown in.