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A new Gmail inbox

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Re: A new Gmail inbox

#71

Post by slg »

bretthopper wrote: post #36

These comments are pretty sad. I know we feel the need to comment on everything right away these days, but honestly there isn't much to say about this feature until we've actually used it. HN almost universally believes in execution over the idea, yet here we are trashing an idea before seeing the execution. It's great that Gmail is trying to innovate and improve the email experience. Maybe this feature won't work ou…

While this UI might have changed a little, the feature set isn't new. The Smartlabels Gmail Labs experiment does the same automatic categorizing and filtering. I have used the experiment for a while and it is really pretty good about knowing what is what and in turn minimizing the amount of email that I see as soon as it arrives. In my experience it has been much more helpful than priority inbox system that Google rolled out a while back.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#72

Post by vidarh »

bretthopper wrote: post #36

These comments are pretty sad. I know we feel the need to comment on everything right away these days, but honestly there isn't much to say about this feature until we've actually used it. HN almost universally believes in execution over the idea, yet here we are trashing an idea before seeing the execution. It's great that Gmail is trying to innovate and improve the email experience. Maybe this feature won't work ou…

Given how obnoxious the new compose it, it is getting hard to trust them to do the right thing with Gmail.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#73

Post by alooPotato »

adventured wrote: post #14

So they're giving me sub folders ("tabs") for my inbox folder. How very 1999. What Gmail is really doing is adding more layers of complexity. Now they have hard wired folders (inbox, sent, etc), labels (aka custom folders), tabs in the inbox, and importance markers (starred / not). They're making the same mistake that consumed many of Microsoft's email efforts: adding complexity thinking that's how you add 'power con…

I think the key here is not the tabs, its the fact that they know which emails belong in which tabs. Auto labeling. I don't think its hard to imagine that this just get better over time such that our current way of doing this (setting up filters) becomes obsolete.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#74

Post by div »

bbx wrote: post #38

The main difference I can see with labels (at least for power users) is that the mails get filtered automatically by Google in these categories. I believe that most of us here on HN won't see this feature as revolutionary but it might help the less tech-savvy ones. For quite some time, I've been happy with GMail because I set up a system through which each email is ultimately stored in one of my predefined labels. I…

I have a similar system, but yours does take things a step further. I'll definitely feel like wasting an hour sometime revising my own setup :)

That said, I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head. If the automatic filtering is done well, it will be a killer feature for normal users.

From glancing over her shoulder, I know my girlfriend has hundreds, if not thousands of unread mails, most of which would probably end up in the promotions tab.

I'm positive this change will make it much easier for her to check her email at a glance.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#75

Post by fennecfoxen »

dannyr wrote: post #55

"If the new inbox isn't quite your style, you can simply switch off all optional tabs to go back to classic view, or switch to any of your other favorite inbox types." If this new Gmail feature doesn't suit you, you can TURN IT OFF.

To be fair, that would be an advantage this feature has over ALL THE OTHER OBNOXIOUS FEATURES they've done to mangle the layout over the past N years - features that you could postpone but not avoid. cough New Compose coughcough

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#76

Post by vidarh »

russgray wrote: post #56
typpo wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think this simplifies email organization for the average user. Normal people don't use labels extensively and don't customize their inbox. With sane presets for these tabs, Google can give most users an inbox that is organized by default.

I thought the point of gmail was that you didn't need to organize. Just search.

The Gmail search is beyond useless to me... Because I have too much stuff saved, and contrary to the web where pagerank provides a good signal, they don't have the same signal for search.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#77

Post by rjv »

I hope they don't neglect the vertical-split view with this update. It's easily the most productive way to to use Gmail IMO.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#78

Post by nwh »

Timothee wrote: post #40

I find all these new email products (Sparrow, Mailbox, etc.) interesting on a UI/UX level but they're highly irrelevant to me. I always read about how hard it has become to manage one's inbox, but I really don't have a problem with it. My system is simple: do not sign-up for newsletter or notifications (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, etc.) you won't read, unsubscribe anytime you realize you don't read the ones you r…

It's almost impossible to /avoid/ getting signed up for a pile of "newsletter" spam. Pretty much everybody that has access to my email address floods me with them.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#79

Post by adastra »

Disaster.

1) I just turned it on, and it is not customizable at all. You cannot create custom tabs, and you can't even pick what goes into the tabs they have created.

2) When you turn it on, it disables Gmail's multiple inbox. Multiple inbox is the only thing saving my email from being a complete and utter disaster right now.

3) Judging by how they are forcing the new compose on everyone it is reasonable to expect that they will force us to use this as well. (The new compose screws up at least two workflows for me, btw. For example, sending a form email to several people is now a pain because I have to manually click "edit subject" to remove the "Fwd:"). If they force this on me, it will completely destroy my ability to use gmail. If they want me to leave gmail for good, that would be the way to guarantee it.

What a mess.

Re: A new Gmail inbox

#80

Post by adastra »

bretthopper wrote: post #36

These comments are pretty sad. I know we feel the need to comment on everything right away these days, but honestly there isn't much to say about this feature until we've actually used it. HN almost universally believes in execution over the idea, yet here we are trashing an idea before seeing the execution. It's great that Gmail is trying to innovate and improve the email experience. Maybe this feature won't work ou…

I did try it just now. See my above comment.
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