A lot of it is just fear and paranoia. "Oh no my computer is going to be broken into!" That's why some shy away from webmail or wireless, but really, I can break into your house with a hammer and look in your filing cabinet when you're not home, yet you seem perfectly safe putting all your stuff there.
There's always risks involved, and the best defense isn't software, it isn't hardware, it's that brain up in your head. Common sense is one of the greatest gifts you have. My family, friends, people I lecture too, etc, are always asking my "why don't you have tons of spyware and viruses on your computer?"... Well yes I use anti-virus software, but I don't use internet security, or crank up all my Internet Explorer settings to restricted or high... it's common sense, with a bit of email filtering and saying NO to random dialog boxes, you can feel better about yourself.
I use wireless internet with my tabletpc, and have it encrypted, and I change the password now and then... but what it all boils down to is your fear and paranoia. I'm not afraid of the internet or its users, I'm happy and comfortable surfing the web, and that only can make it a very positive experience. If you've got young kids in the house, surf the net with them, show them the cool stuff indeed of them having to go find it themselves and accidentally clicking on something they shouldn't.
It's never the computers fault, it only does what the user tells it to.
My .02.
- D
P.S. As for Gmail, I have a gmail account
, do I use it? Not really as I have POP/SMTP secure accounts on three servers, and I <3 Outlook 2003
