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Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

blog.killtheradio.net

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Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#11

Post by SagelyGuru »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #3

The poster is correct that email is not a TODO list. However, email is broken. Email is inherently insecure, unauthenticated and wide open to abuse. There is no way of knowing that an email from me is really from me and wouldn't it be better if SPAM could never get onto the network in the first place?

Email can be secured and authenticated with GPG and perhaps more people should consider doing this.

The problem with SPAM is that what some may consider to be a 'fascinating circular' will be perceived by others as SPAM.

SPAM is often in the eye of the beholder.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#12

Post by tferris »

Couldn't upvote this more.

I am fed up with posts telling me email is broken and a new disruptive tech will be the cure. Email is an open protocol, decentralized, providing optional security.

Shortcomings—or rather call them additional requirements—can be solved with tools keeping email focussed on async text-based communication. Want to send large files? Dropbox. Want more automation? Improve the client side and/or write scripts. Want less spam? Don't distribute your address or sign-up everywhere.

If you don't like your inbox being a todo-list you should change something—maybe your job, profession or your work environment but it's definitely not email. I have got rarely todos in my inbox.

For me, email is—if you mind a set of rules—an efficient way of communication which is documented. You can easily and asynchronously discuss and agree on topics in a transparent manner with one or more participants, again: with an open and decentralized technology, no middleman anywhere. Sometimes obviously it's better to meet folks face to face.

Now tell me, which tool can do this? What do you want to improve?

This whole email is broken thing is just done for the sake of getting attention, making a lame conference presentation "disruptive" or getting some crappy todo app funded.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#13

Post by MrJagil »

The bottom line for me is: I hate email. It might be a great framework and all, but I dread opening up gmail. I know it's going to be full of shit I don't care about, I know there's going to be an unsurmountable, unsorted, confusing, library of old emails. Further, if i'm expecting an email, it could be anywhere! Bulk? Spam? Inbox?

But why then do i love getting an sms? Where's the difference? The speed? The quality? The simplicity? Somewhere, email has gone wrong.

A simple answer could be that've just been giving out my email to too many services, but honestly, that's what every email user does, and this should be assumed by the developers. It could be that it's just the clients that are broken, but then fix the clients!

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#14

Post by SagelyGuru »

kingsidharth wrote: post #6
SagelyGuru wrote: post #2

The style of this post is a bit 'wild' but the message is sound. I was reading those posts earlier, thinking the same: there is no point in burdening email with constructing 'todo' lists for named senders because my Opera mail client has been doing this successfully and more flexibly with filters for years. Also, the thought of receiving potentially important emails which can only be read by, say, 'MS word-receiver 2…

> The style of this post is a bit 'wild' but ... So? Is that bad? Everyone has their own way of expressing. Some herein declare that electronic mail is not flawed. Some say that email is not broken. Some just say that email doesn't need dick-sucking.

Yes, everyone has their own style and some are better than others. It does not bother me but I think a metaphor like this is misplaced and distracting.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#15

Post by ed209 »

>We fix it by building smart clients.

I think improving email lies before the client. Email is just a message container and apps generally throw a load of different content into that container, events, to-do's, photos etc.

Some of this stuff should never arrive in my inbox. A to-do email should automatically go to my to-do list, an event should automatically go to my calendar, photos should automatically go to iPhoto (or whatever).

Separately to that I can choose how I'm notified about that content.

For example, for all the marketing emails, I'd much prefer to have a Flipboard type app on my mac that receives all of those messages so that they never arrive in my inbox.

So no, email is not broken, but we haven't kept up with ways to manage the growing number of correspondence email is handling. I think the solution lies on the server where mail is sorted into types i.e. if you have that Flipboard for Marketing app, you get those marketing messages otherwise you don't.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#16

Post by alexchamberlain »

SagelyGuru wrote: post #11
alexchamberlain wrote: post #3

The poster is correct that email is not a TODO list. However, email is broken. Email is inherently insecure, unauthenticated and wide open to abuse. There is no way of knowing that an email from me is really from me and wouldn't it be better if SPAM could never get onto the network in the first place?

Email can be secured and authenticated with GPG and perhaps more people should consider doing this. The problem with SPAM is that what some may consider to be a 'fascinating circular' will be perceived by others as SPAM. SPAM is often in the eye of the beholder.

Ok, maybe the fascinating circular should never make it onto the network. To be fair, I meant viagra sales rather than circulars.

GPG is not user friendly. Remember, the public are stupid.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#17

Post by Animus7 »

SagelyGuru wrote: post #11
alexchamberlain wrote: post #3

The poster is correct that email is not a TODO list. However, email is broken. Email is inherently insecure, unauthenticated and wide open to abuse. There is no way of knowing that an email from me is really from me and wouldn't it be better if SPAM could never get onto the network in the first place?

Email can be secured and authenticated with GPG and perhaps more people should consider doing this. The problem with SPAM is that what some may consider to be a 'fascinating circular' will be perceived by others as SPAM. SPAM is often in the eye of the beholder.

> Email can be secured and authenticated with GPG and perhaps more people should consider doing this.

Doesn't work unless you teach people about security, which is difficult. We have padlocks next to URLs but it's amazing how many people are still willing to send CC info over HTTP.

> SPAM is often in the eye of the beholder.

There's a lot of grey area, but when a particular string has a 99% unread/deleted rate, you can make statistical inferences. An enormous percentage of email falls into this category, and it's why "spam filters" exist and generally do a good job.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#18

Post by alexchamberlain »

myspy wrote: post #9

Without all the sexual allusions this could be a decent statement -.- (sorry, I have nothing against that when joking with friends or reading some not so serious post, but it does not fit to a commentary about email)

I thought I was the only one who got frustrated with sexual innuendo peppered blog posts or those with swear words ever other sentence.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#19

Post by Lednakashim »

Whats the difference? If our client reads specialized xml instead of plaintext, haven't we "changed" e-mail to the extent that we have broken it for non-compatible clients? To me e-mail is ascii/html without meta-data, when we add meta data we have e-mail 2.0, which is not compatible and hence different.

Re: Email is not broken: It’s a framework, not an application

#20

Post by evaneykelen »

>We fix it by building smart clients.

If you allow me to pick an interesting remark from this post: I think the idea of embedding instructions in the payload of an email is an interesting one. For instance an email could contain text and a link to a Pivotal Tracker story while at the same time it could contain a JSON payload which tells my augmented email client to render the story and allow me to interact with it. The post makes a good point in that email as a protocol is not broken but that the problem lies with today's email clients.

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