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Fix the constant desire of everyone to re-invent/move away from & generally denounce email as a platform. If you think email is perfect as it is, you're living

Fix the constant desire of everyone to re-invent/move away from & generally denounce email as a platform. If you think email is perfect as it is, you're living in a bubble and are ignoring the pains of countless people. You may have an email setup that works perfectly for your needs, but if it was easy for everyone to have the same, no-one would be trying to re-invent it.

ddingus 6y ago
There is making something new, that reinvention, and there is making better use of what is there now. What you want is not email. So make what you want, and if it really does reduce the pain of countless people, it will see broad use, right? And if it does not? Send me an email, we can talk about it. Maybe what you want to do can ride in an email? Great, do that. And again, if countless people feel better, they can run clients that help them feel better.
- lucideer 6y ago
  > What you want is not email. What I want is email, with the pains ironed out. I do not want anything fundamentally new. I just want to use what I'm currently using, and have it work as it currently works, minus current frustrations. These frustrations vary from person-to-person (mine are numerous, some I'd be happy to live with, but others genuinely bother me daily), so fixing enough of them to appease a large portion of email users is no small task, but I think email is a good enough foundation that doing so is worth pursing. I don't see much value in telling everyone their complaints re: email are invalid and they should accept it as is without improvements. > So make what you want That's a fair point, and maybe I should. It would certainly be better than posting aimlessly about it in internet comments. As mentioned above though, it's no small task.
  - ddingus 6y ago
    I did not tell you those things. You inferred them. And that is OK, no worries. Do make that thing. I will look at it with interest like any new thing.
ddingus 6y ago
Oh, and lets be clear: I do not believe for a minute all this wanting to replace email is about the pain of countless people. There is pain, no doubt. I have some myself. It is all about massive adoption being equated to massive dollars. That tends to amplify these things.
- lucideer 6y ago
  > I do not believe for a minute all this wanting to replace email is about the pain of countless people. There is pain, no doubt. I have some myself. To clarify my point: I think people try to replace email because they're frustrated with email and believe it can't meet their needs. Personally, I believe email could meet some of their needs were it improved to alleviate some of their frustrations. And I wish some people would direct their efforts toward improving email rather than trying to replace it. Then again, maybe I should be taking my own advice.
  - ddingus 6y ago
    And I question needs vs wants. Many people are all about how they want to work. They may or may not be about how others work, working together, or willing to adapt how they work. And we all have reasons, no worries, no judgement. That said, I have seen many wants framed as needs. Have done that myself. Have also adapted how I work to see those things evaporate away too. What is worth what? Sometimes working differently is lower risk, friction for higher value than attempting to work in a specific way can be. Cheers!
- jjav 6y ago
  Right. When a company says "let's fix email with a better solution", it is very clear what they really mean is "we want to lock people into our proprietary channel and profit". What's good for the user long term is not a factor to them.

ddingus 6y ago

There is making something new, that reinvention, and there is making better use of what is there now. What you want is not email. So make what you want, and if it really does reduce the pain of countless people, it will see broad use, right? And if it does not? Send me an email, we can talk about it. Maybe what you want to do can ride in an email? Great, do that. And again, if countless people feel better, they can run clients that help them feel better.

lucideer 6y ago
> What you want is not email. What I want is email, with the pains ironed out. I do not want anything fundamentally new. I just want to use what I'm currently using, and have it work as it currently works, minus current frustrations. These frustrations vary from person-to-person (mine are numerous, some I'd be happy to live with, but others genuinely bother me daily), so fixing enough of them to appease a large portion of email users is no small task, but I think email is a good enough foundation that doing so is worth pursing. I don't see much value in telling everyone their complaints re: email are invalid and they should accept it as is without improvements. > So make what you want That's a fair point, and maybe I should. It would certainly be better than posting aimlessly about it in internet comments. As mentioned above though, it's no small task.
- ddingus 6y ago
  I did not tell you those things. You inferred them. And that is OK, no worries. Do make that thing. I will look at it with interest like any new thing.

ddingus 6y ago

Oh, and lets be clear: I do not believe for a minute all this wanting to replace email is about the pain of countless people. There is pain, no doubt. I have some myself. It is all about massive adoption being equated to massive dollars. That tends to amplify these things.

lucideer 6y ago
> I do not believe for a minute all this wanting to replace email is about the pain of countless people. There is pain, no doubt. I have some myself. To clarify my point: I think people try to replace email because they're frustrated with email and believe it can't meet their needs. Personally, I believe email could meet some of their needs were it improved to alleviate some of their frustrations. And I wish some people would direct their efforts toward improving email rather than trying to replace it. Then again, maybe I should be taking my own advice.
- ddingus 6y ago
  And I question needs vs wants. Many people are all about how they want to work. They may or may not be about how others work, working together, or willing to adapt how they work. And we all have reasons, no worries, no judgement. That said, I have seen many wants framed as needs. Have done that myself. Have also adapted how I work to see those things evaporate away too. What is worth what? Sometimes working differently is lower risk, friction for higher value than attempting to work in a specific way can be. Cheers!
jjav 6y ago
Right. When a company says "let's fix email with a better solution", it is very clear what they really mean is "we want to lock people into our proprietary channel and profit". What's good for the user long term is not a factor to them.