4 ms·

"To most geeks, the main problem with email is spam." He lost me right there. You are not a geek if you have a problem with spam. Spam? I never see it. It

by e40 17y ago

"To most geeks, the main problem with email is spam." He lost me right there. You are not a geek if you have a problem with spam. Spam? I never see it. It all goes into my +inbox-spam folder and I spend < 1m/day scanning it before I delete the contents. The problem with email is there is too much of it. Actually damn messages I must read and deal with.

swombat 17y ago
I didn't suggest that geeks have a problem with spam. On the contrary, because that problem has been on the geek radar for many years, it is largely resolved. And because most of the other problems have not been on the geek radar, they're not resolved yet. The problem with email is there is too much of it. Actually damn messages I must read and deal with. And my point is that Wave can help reduce the clutter and chaos of these messages by presenting them in a more structured, intuitive, and versatile form. So instead of having 50 emails discussing the text for the new homepage, you can have just one Wave.
- andreyf 17y ago
  To most geeks, the main problem with email is spam. ... I didn't suggest that geeks have a problem with spam. You certainly could have phrased that better :-P
  - swombat 17y ago
    Yep, clearly! Sorry!
- seunosewa 17y ago
  "And my point is that Wave can help reduce the clutter and chaos of these messages by presenting them in a more structured, intuitive, and versatile form. So instead of having 50 emails discussing the text for the new homepage, you can have just one Wave." Gmail already does that. See 'Gmail Conversations': http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=5900 http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answe...
  - Jaykul 17y ago
    Baloney. Gmail conversations are a bandaid that only works some of the time.
pohl 17y ago
"It all goes into my..." This is where you lost me, because it just supports the real intent of the author's statement, which is that spam is a problem that results from design flaws in email. Despite the author's use of the word 'geek' being unnecessary, not all geeks are happy with myriad sometimes-adequate workarounds to fundamental design flaws. I'm glad you've made your peace with spam, though.
enobrev 17y ago
Agreed, although I don't think I've actually looked through my spam folder in at least a couple years. GMail's filters are pretty damned good. If an email didn't make it through, I consider it the same as the old "lost in the mail."
mediaman 17y ago
He clarifies what he means by spam immediately after the sentence you quote: "So the main problems for geeks are that they’re signed up to so many services that they get inundated with notifications, monthly newsletters, automated messages, and shreds of spam that manage to get through GMail’s spam filters." "Spam" was probably the wrong word to describe emails that are automated or informational, but requested; however, your view doesn't appear to disagree with his. If your problem is that you have too much email from real people that must be evaluated and responded to, your problem is not with email at all, but rather with human organization. You have too many people relying on your input for too many things and that has nothing to do with technology. Offload work to an assistant, or outsource some functions, or grant increased decision making responsibility.

by e40 17y ago

swombat 17y ago

I didn't suggest that geeks have a problem with spam. On the contrary, because that problem has been on the geek radar for many years, it is largely resolved. And because most of the other problems have not been on the geek radar, they're not resolved yet. The problem with email is there is too much of it. Actually damn messages I must read and deal with. And my point is that Wave can help reduce the clutter and chaos of these messages by presenting them in a more structured, intuitive, and versatile form. So instead of having 50 emails discussing the text for the new homepage, you can have just one Wave.

andreyf 17y ago
To most geeks, the main problem with email is spam. ... I didn't suggest that geeks have a problem with spam. You certainly could have phrased that better :-P
- swombat 17y ago
  Yep, clearly! Sorry!
seunosewa 17y ago
"And my point is that Wave can help reduce the clutter and chaos of these messages by presenting them in a more structured, intuitive, and versatile form. So instead of having 50 emails discussing the text for the new homepage, you can have just one Wave." Gmail already does that. See 'Gmail Conversations': http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=5900 http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answe...
- Jaykul 17y ago
  Baloney. Gmail conversations are a bandaid that only works some of the time.

pohl 17y ago

"It all goes into my..." This is where you lost me, because it just supports the real intent of the author's statement, which is that spam is a problem that results from design flaws in email. Despite the author's use of the word 'geek' being unnecessary, not all geeks are happy with myriad sometimes-adequate workarounds to fundamental design flaws. I'm glad you've made your peace with spam, though.

enobrev 17y ago

Agreed, although I don't think I've actually looked through my spam folder in at least a couple years. GMail's filters are pretty damned good. If an email didn't make it through, I consider it the same as the old "lost in the mail."

mediaman 17y ago

He clarifies what he means by spam immediately after the sentence you quote: "So the main problems for geeks are that they’re signed up to so many services that they get inundated with notifications, monthly newsletters, automated messages, and shreds of spam that manage to get through GMail’s spam filters." "Spam" was probably the wrong word to describe emails that are automated or informational, but requested; however, your view doesn't appear to disagree with his. If your problem is that you have too much email from real people that must be evaluated and responded to, your problem is not with email at all, but rather with human organization. You have too many people relying on your input for too many things and that has nothing to do with technology. Offload work to an assistant, or outsource some functions, or grant increased decision making responsibility.