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Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

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Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#41

Post by izacus »

lucideer wrote: post #36
Arnt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What precisely is shitty and broken about gmail's IMAP implementation? Gmail's IMAP implementation implements three RFCs I wrote; I haven't noticed anything wrong in those areas. Are my RFCs unusual or am I overlooking something?

I'm curious if you've actually used an IMAP client witha Gmail account; if so, which one(s). A sibling comment has already mentioned the folder/flags mixup issue, but while it sounds like one small feature, that one thing is so fundamentally broken that I really can't see how any user of Gmail IMAP would overlook it. I get duplicate notifications for the same mail in INBOX and [Gmail]/All Mail and actions on one copy…

I used Thunderbird and am still using Airmail and they're working without issues for me. Faster, more responsive and better UI than any web crap.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#43

Post by petilon »

xvf22 wrote: post #32
petilon wrote: post #28

To me, Gmail Classic is this original look: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/priority1.... I loved the "Original Classic". Every update since has worsened the look & feel. When Steve Jobs passed away, the whole software industry took a gigantic step backwards in design. There are lots of great designers in the world (have a look at https://dribbble.com/ ) but the people who hire designers often can't…

Steve also had his hand in plenty of awful design decisions with the skeuomorphic turn OSX took [0] being one of them. [0] https://www.fastcompany.com/1670760/will-apples-tacky-softwa...

I see skeuomorphism as an excellent idea.

The human mind is built to build models... We are constantly building models of the world and predicting how that world will work. When you have a digital world that has no rules where every time you do something it behaves in a new and different way it's surprising... and it is also really stressful. Your mind can't build any models. That makes it hard. Everything is an adventure. But when you are trying to get something done you don't want an adventure, right? We want things to behave in a predictable way. It'd be like, sometimes I put something on the table it doesn't sit there, it flies up to the ceiling.

Skeuomorphic design helps users make mental models. The above paragraph is actually a from Google talk on Material Design! They understood the theory well, but their implementation is lacking.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#44

Post by gbear605 »

vbezhenar wrote: post #17
sehugg wrote: post #13

I can handle the new design, but on my (albeit underpowered) Chromebook, new Gmail takes ~30 seconds from initial page load to starting a reply to a thread. This is not progress.

3 seconds to load interface, almost instant transitions to mail and reply. Windows, Google Chrome.

15 seconds to load interface, 5 seconds to mail and reply. Mac, Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, 22MB/s download/upload, 2.9Ghz cpu running nothing else.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#45

Post by aplummer »

petilon wrote: post #43
xvf22 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve also had his hand in plenty of awful design decisions with the skeuomorphic turn OSX took [0] being one of them. [0] https://www.fastcompany.com/1670760/will-apples-tacky-softwa...

I see skeuomorphism as an excellent idea. The human mind is built to build models... We are constantly building models of the world and predicting how that world will work. When you have a digital world that has no rules where every time you do something it behaves in a new and different way it's surprising... and it is also really stressful. Your mind can't build any models. That makes it hard. Everything is an adve…

You might like the book "The design of everyday things" if you haven't read it already.

I find bauhaus design and understanding affordances etc much more interesting than abstract and non functional design.

As another note, usability testing with irregular computer users with a skeuomorphic design vs a "flat UI" produces such crazy results in favour of skeuomorphism.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#46

Post by pixelrevision »

GhostVII wrote: post #16

I would rather have some CSS to make the basic HTML Gmail look like the classic Gmail. Adding CSS to the new Gmail doesn't make it any faster, which is my biggest problem with it. The basic HTML version runs really fast, but it could use a bit of CSS to make it look a bit nicer and add a little more whitespace (at least on my 4k monitor it's somewhat cramped).

Google is becoming really frustrating. I am trying to transition off inbox because they are killing it. The performance of the new gmail is miserable though.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#47

Post by jcousins »

pixelrevision wrote: post #46
GhostVII wrote: post #16

I would rather have some CSS to make the basic HTML Gmail look like the classic Gmail. Adding CSS to the new Gmail doesn't make it any faster, which is my biggest problem with it. The basic HTML version runs really fast, but it could use a bit of CSS to make it look a bit nicer and add a little more whitespace (at least on my 4k monitor it's somewhat cramped).

Google is becoming really frustrating. I am trying to transition off inbox because they are killing it. The performance of the new gmail is miserable though.

I will desperately miss the clean inbox paradigm when Inbox goes. I am struggling to go back to the old way of managing my email with no done button and poorly configured categories. I feel like I have to do it now or I won't adjust in time for Inbox being sunsetted early next year.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#48

Post by themodelplumber »

djsumdog wrote: post #21

It's interesting how back when programs actually ran on your machine, you could just use an older version. I knew people who never upgraded Winamp. Today we do know this is problematic (due to security updates mostly) but when it comes to web applications we don't have a choice. Don't like the new look, well tough. If the application has an API (like Reddit) you could write your own or use a better client. I could sa…

If WinAMP still had support, you could still run it. This is why apps like QMMP exist. I use it to listen to my music because I manage my own playlists and prefer the way it works. On the web, the same thing is possible. My public library's search interface is old, but it's still maintained and I hope it doesn't get this "next level" Gmail-type upgrade. These big upgrades end up rewriting some of the biggest leverage points in the software, so it's as if you went back to the software store and bought a completely different title, in a way. I wish more people could understand that "upgrade" thinking needs more nuance. We lose a lot of value in all of these wasteful efforts to upgrade.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#49

Post by misterman0 »

sova wrote: post #40
phreack wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would be a great option. Maybe Google could get on that, but they're more likely to axe the basic Html version considering their latest trends.

I shudder to think it! And shudder again at the 70% likelihood you are prescient with your comment

For the first time in many years I've stumbled upon a word I have never ever heard before, not in a movie, not in any literature, nowhere. Thank you.

It seems HN has utility after all.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#50

Post by sova »

misterman0 wrote: post #49
sova wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I shudder to think it! And shudder again at the 70% likelihood you are prescient with your comment

For the first time in many years I've stumbled upon a word I have never ever heard before, not in a movie, not in any literature, nowhere. Thank you. It seems HN has utility after all.

Happy to share and partake in the natural refulgence of the variegated English language with you.
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