59 ms·

Why are we still using email? No, I'm serious, why?

• userbinator 4y ago
  One of the few means of online communication that isn't a proprietary walled garden?
  • rekrsiv 4y ago
    So in the few other means of online communication that aren't proprietary walled gardens, what else we got?
    • dane-pgp 4y ago
      IRC, XMPP, and Matrix (in increasing order of support for E2E crypto). I'm not sure how well those protocols (as implemented, in practice) support clients that go offline for long periods of time.
      • dane-pgp 4y ago
        Did I misunderstand the question?
• dredmorbius 4y ago
  First, yes, it sucks. See <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32587346 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32587346> But: - It exists. - It's ... kind of ... not owned. (Though as TFA notes, this is only vanishingly true any more.) But compared to most alternatives, it is less owned by any one entity. - It's supported over a wide range of devices, from smartphones to mainframes. - It has extensive mindshare, use-culture, associated processes, etc. - It is largely agnostic as to content. Yes, plain text is most native, but through the majick of MIME, et al, it'll manage just about anything. If you're going to call for email's end, you'd best have a highly viable alternative or replacement in mind.