With 2+GB of storage space on each account, Google's free web-based e-mail service, GMail, has managed to take significant market share from Microsoft's Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and others -- even though it's still in beta.  Another big draw is the fact that with that much storage, one never needs to delete anything -- packrats appreciate that, and of course it's all instantly indexed and quickly searchable.  After all, search is what Google's all about.

However, some are nervous about having all of their data sitting on Google's servers; they worry that if there's some sort of data disaster, all of their important e-mail will be vaporized.

Google's new GMail Paper service should help to allay some of those fears.  Users can now click a button on the GMail toolbar and request paper copies of any e-mails, which will then be delivered free of charge within 2 to 4 business days.  There's no limit to the number of paper e-mails, which, like GMail's electronic equivalent, are ad-supported:  relevant, unobtrusive and targeted ads are printed on the reverse of each page in red bold 36 point Helvetica.  Any pictures attached to the e-mails are printed separately on glossy photo paper, although WAV and MP3 files are not printed, for obvious reasons.

Responding to environmentalists' concerns that Google's new initiative doesn't appear to be very ecologically friendly, the company says that all e-mails are printed on paper made from 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and therefore could actually have a positive environmental impact.

Read more at Google's GMail Homepage.