4 ms·

Google had an innovative email platform called Inbox that was widely loved by its users and they killed it two years ago. If the market is not billions of peopl

Google had an innovative email platform called Inbox that was widely loved by its users and they killed it two years ago. If the market is not billions of people they just don't care about it.

1123581321 6y ago
I loved Inbox, but what actually happened there was that there were two visions of Gmail 2.0 internally. Inbox didn’t win, partly because it was written in a nightmarish C++ framework, but some of its best features were brought into Gmail. Gmail is a conservatively managed product, but it does improve over time.
- CarlosEscobedo 6y ago
  Main thing its missing which i miss daily is bundles. Auto travel bundle was super helpful. Also it had a better ui..
- msh 6y ago
  What is Gmail written in?
  - mynegation 6y ago
    Java, compiled with Closure
- andolanra 6y ago
  Nobody I know who used Inbox feels that the current Gmail interface—even with some Inbox features backported—is an acceptable substitute for Inbox.
  - 1123581321 6y ago
    Now you know one. :)
  - rocha 6y ago
    Have you tried the Simplify GMail browser extension? It made the transition from Inbox to GMail less painful to me. https://simpl.fyi/ https://simpl.fyi/
    - morberg 6y ago
      That looks quite nice. Is there an alternative for Safari?
- juliozaravia 6y ago
  I'm intrigued. How could the framework of a certain programming language affect the product, in this case Inbox?
  - 1123581321 6y ago
    My understanding is that development of Inbox slowed and became unpleasant because the C++ generated JS was unattractive to developers at Google, and it didn’t have the internal support for a rewrite. Since the Gmail product was the incumbent, has more developers and is probably refactored often enough to maintain a certain code quality level, and several Inbox features were compatible with Gmail, the Inbox product had no leverage to get itself enough support to stay alive.
bad_user 6y ago
Google should have written seasons 7 and 8 of Game of Thrones.
- botverse 6y ago
  Just chuckled at this.

Google had an innovative email platform called Inbox that was widely loved by its users and they killed it two years ago. If the market is not billions of people they just don't care about it.

1123581321 6y ago

I loved Inbox, but what actually happened there was that there were two visions of Gmail 2.0 internally. Inbox didn’t win, partly because it was written in a nightmarish C++ framework, but some of its best features were brought into Gmail. Gmail is a conservatively managed product, but it does improve over time.

CarlosEscobedo 6y ago
Main thing its missing which i miss daily is bundles. Auto travel bundle was super helpful. Also it had a better ui..
msh 6y ago
What is Gmail written in?
- mynegation 6y ago
  Java, compiled with Closure
andolanra 6y ago
Nobody I know who used Inbox feels that the current Gmail interface—even with some Inbox features backported—is an acceptable substitute for Inbox.
- 1123581321 6y ago
  Now you know one. :)
- rocha 6y ago
  Have you tried the Simplify GMail browser extension? It made the transition from Inbox to GMail less painful to me. https://simpl.fyi/ https://simpl.fyi/
  - morberg 6y ago
    That looks quite nice. Is there an alternative for Safari?
juliozaravia 6y ago
I'm intrigued. How could the framework of a certain programming language affect the product, in this case Inbox?
- 1123581321 6y ago
  My understanding is that development of Inbox slowed and became unpleasant because the C++ generated JS was unattractive to developers at Google, and it didn’t have the internal support for a rewrite. Since the Gmail product was the incumbent, has more developers and is probably refactored often enough to maintain a certain code quality level, and several Inbox features were compatible with Gmail, the Inbox product had no leverage to get itself enough support to stay alive.

bad_user 6y ago

Google should have written seasons 7 and 8 of Game of Thrones.

botverse 6y ago
Just chuckled at this.