This is a good thing! I don’t know if I like how it is tied so closely to google talk. The other thing I wonder about is to setup a gmail account you must have a mobile phone and provide that number to google so they can send you an invitation code via sms text message. This probably isn’t that big of a deal, but you are giving a company your number, which they can associate with the account setup, which later can be associated with your identity based on the content of your email. You can still subscribe through an invitation from a gmail user.

That is probably the way I would rather signup, though it probably doesn’t really matter. Oh well, if you don’t have a gmail account get one. If you don’t want to give your number post a comment on this and I can send you an invite.