3 ms·

Can someone clue me in on this - people are now standing in line for software? The only logical two reasons I can think of: 1) Their backend doesn't scale well

by mrich 14y ago

Can someone clue me in on this - people are now standing in line for software? The only logical two reasons I can think of: 1) Their backend doesn't scale well enough 2) Artifical scarcity to make people think they are missing out on something

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
rgbrenner 14y ago
and 3) it's displayed 4th in the itunes store when you search for mail, and is the first generic mail app displayed in the results. Look at these results: 1) Gmail 2) mail.com 3) Yahoo mail 4) mailbox 5) Windows Live Hotmail 6) Voice Changer Plus 7) Emoji and Unicode Icons 8) Dragon Dictation 9) Ink Cards Personalized 10) A+ Emotion Icons ... Continues with more completely-unrelated-to-mail results. If I was searching for a mail client, then mailbox would be it apparently.
- GuiA 14y ago
  Shame, because Mailbox is Gmail only I believe.
- elithrar 14y ago
  > If I was searching for a mail client, then mailbox would be it apparently. FWIW, the reviews on the AU App Store are very mixed - 82 5-star, 20 4-star, 11 3-star, 2 2-star and 58 1-star. Many of the 1-star reviews are complaining about how this (free) app has a waiting line.
mbrubeck 14y ago
Remember the clamor for Gmail invitations back when it launched in early 2004? http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2004/06/63786 http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2004/06/63786 (The service remained invite-only until 2007, though invites quickly became less scarce.) For a while after the Gmail launch, it seemed almost obligatory for new services to launch with long waiting lists and/or scarce invitations.
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  Ah this reminds me of Aaron Swartz on "The Gmail Launch" for launching applications. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/howtolaunch http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/howtolaunch
MatthewPhillips 14y ago
It's a shame an email client needs a back end.
- harmonic 14y ago
  Key features of mailbox - email snoozing, lists etc. would be hard without backend support.
  - MatthewPhillips 14y ago
    Care to explain what those features are?
  - smackfu 14y ago
    Lists are just IMAP folders. Email snoozing needs some kind of backend, but it doesn't really need access to your GMail account credentials. The backend could just re-send you the email normally.
  - pixelcort 14y ago
    iOS has an API to schedule a client-side notification without server-side involvement.
    - k-mcgrady 14y ago
      It does (Local Notifications) but to set those the app would need to check for new email and if it finds any create the notification. AFAIK on iOS it can't check for the email in the background, the app would need to be open (removing the need for the notification).
- smackfu 14y ago
  It's really just an iOS issue. Apps can't run in the background to check mail and give notifications. So you need to check the mail on the server and send a new mail notification independently of the app. The weird side-effect of this hack is that you get a notification of a new email, then you open the Mailbox app and it has to go retrieve the new email from the server.
smackfu 14y ago
Their stated reason is: 3) They don't know if their backend scales well. So their rollout plan is basically to add twice as many accounts each week, then see if it handles the load, then repeat.
jff 14y ago
3) Avoid getting 1 million new users in a day, which could cause a huge load on tech support.

by mrich 14y ago

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

rgbrenner 14y ago

and 3) it's displayed 4th in the itunes store when you search for mail, and is the first generic mail app displayed in the results. Look at these results: 1) Gmail 2) mail.com 3) Yahoo mail 4) mailbox 5) Windows Live Hotmail 6) Voice Changer Plus 7) Emoji and Unicode Icons 8) Dragon Dictation 9) Ink Cards Personalized 10) A+ Emotion Icons ... Continues with more completely-unrelated-to-mail results. If I was searching for a mail client, then mailbox would be it apparently.

GuiA 14y ago
Shame, because Mailbox is Gmail only I believe.
elithrar 14y ago
> If I was searching for a mail client, then mailbox would be it apparently. FWIW, the reviews on the AU App Store are very mixed - 82 5-star, 20 4-star, 11 3-star, 2 2-star and 58 1-star. Many of the 1-star reviews are complaining about how this (free) app has a waiting line.

mbrubeck 14y ago

Remember the clamor for Gmail invitations back when it launched in early 2004? http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2004/06/63786 http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2004/06/63786 (The service remained invite-only until 2007, though invites quickly became less scarce.) For a while after the Gmail launch, it seemed almost obligatory for new services to launch with long waiting lists and/or scarce invitations.

hkmurakami 14y ago
Ah this reminds me of Aaron Swartz on "The Gmail Launch" for launching applications. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/howtolaunch http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/howtolaunch

MatthewPhillips 14y ago

It's a shame an email client needs a back end.

harmonic 14y ago
Key features of mailbox - email snoozing, lists etc. would be hard without backend support.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  Care to explain what those features are?
- smackfu 14y ago
  Lists are just IMAP folders. Email snoozing needs some kind of backend, but it doesn't really need access to your GMail account credentials. The backend could just re-send you the email normally.
- pixelcort 14y ago
  iOS has an API to schedule a client-side notification without server-side involvement.
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    It does (Local Notifications) but to set those the app would need to check for new email and if it finds any create the notification. AFAIK on iOS it can't check for the email in the background, the app would need to be open (removing the need for the notification).
smackfu 14y ago
It's really just an iOS issue. Apps can't run in the background to check mail and give notifications. So you need to check the mail on the server and send a new mail notification independently of the app. The weird side-effect of this hack is that you get a notification of a new email, then you open the Mailbox app and it has to go retrieve the new email from the server.

smackfu 14y ago

Their stated reason is: 3) They don't know if their backend scales well. So their rollout plan is basically to add twice as many accounts each week, then see if it handles the load, then repeat.

jff 14y ago

3) Avoid getting 1 million new users in a day, which could cause a huge load on tech support.