Comments on: Seeking Better Email

By: Sarah Lam

Sarah Lam — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:11:33 +0000

I use Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail! Of course I love Gmail the most and pair it with Thunderbird, it seems to be a perfect combination. Although I like Gmail, I don't really like to check email within Gmail itself. I prefer to use POP3 and check through Thunderbird. Maybe I am used to it and it is now becoming a habit.

Speaking about Gmail labs, I have to use one that allows us to put the signature above all instead at the bottom. It is very difficult to reply to emails with the signature at the bottom.

By: Sarah Lam

Sarah Lam — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:11:33 +0000

Speaking about Gmail labs, I have to use one that allows us to put the signature above all instead at the bottom. It is very difficult to reply to emails with the signature at the bottom.

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:16:42 +0000

How about a service that lets you manage all your email adresses in one spot and adds features like threading, notes, and search. AND allows shared mailboxes to be managed simultaneously??? Check out Email Center Pro .

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:16:42 +0000

By: Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:16:22 +0000

Looking back at the service,. Zenbe has done a lot since I was last on it to separate itself from Gmail. I have to give it that. Previously, the whole marketing about it was that it would allow you to use you Gmail account, that it was Gmail like and that it added a few new features. It billed itself as a Gmail+ kind of service, that is definitely less true.

Regarding Yahoo. You'll know the problems with your Yahoo account the second you find yourself on a dialup connection. Trying to use the new interface while on dialup is, quite literally, impossible. Gmail works and degrades cleanly, Yahoo! switches back to its old version, which is a pain to use and still moves very slow.

I give Yahoo cred for bringing a more client-like interface, but it doesn't work well on slower connections at all.

By: Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:00:13 +0000

Maybe you have a point there. But the problem is that the best hope along those lines is social networking sites and their messengers. Combine it with OpenID and you could have an email-like messaging service. The problem is that these services across the board have far worse messaging platforms than even email. I'd rather eat my own eyeball than attempt to use Myspace or Facebook for serious communication.

I think the overall structure of email can be used for greater things than Gmail. It's just going to require some reimagining of what it can do…

By: Lawrence Salberg

Lawrence Salberg — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:24:33 +0000

Gee, I dunno. I've used Gmail for 2+ years and have been using zenbe for some other projects the past 4-5 months. I didn't get the impression it "built off" gmail, unless anyone is still counting 'conversations" and archiving as a gmail-inspired features.

Other than that, I thought Zenbe is very different from Gmail, both in its workflow and its simplicity. I felt they truly started from scratch. I really like the integration of the calendar (which gmail still lacks with Google Calendar) and the file uploads/downloads.

I also use the new yahoo mail for a few things and it is a TON better than the old one. It does everything I need. I do wish it had conversations and archiving, but for my purposes there, it is fully adequate. I probably would use Gmail for 99% of my email things (instead of 50%) but I'm maxed out on the five external POP3 accounts it allows. If they ever change that, or offer a paid upgrade for more accounts, I'd likely move everything over to it. Except Yahoo. Gotta have my Yahoo account - how does anyone on the web function without a Yahoo account. I'll never know.

By: Rarst

Rarst — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:22:48 +0000

I think email is confined by underlying tech. Unreliable, plagued by spam, totally ugly for file transfer, etc. And oversaturated with services on top.

It is not Gmail that fall asleep, it is that it hit wall of ancient tech that is still limited to transferring some text around and hoping it gets where it should.

Now if someone comes up with innovative backbone, plenty of cool functions while keeping both layer of backwards compatibility and front-end compatibility… One can dream, right?