Ask HN: Do we need another email service? • Hacker News Board

Yes, it's all about branding. Most legible names are taken in all big players, so a new service would see an influx of users trying to secure their vanity names.

And that, my friend, will occur for as long as a million human beings are born each day.

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#14

Post by NKCSS » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 1:52 PM UTC

Paying for Google to host the e-mail for all companies; ran private exchange before; it's just not worth it :)

Imho, it's extremely hard to beat what Google offers.

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#15

Post by pera » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 1:56 PM UTC

Location is an essential issue today for e-mail services: don't expected much enthusiasm if your servers are in USA

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#16

Post by cliveowen » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 2:02 PM UTC

I don't think we need another email service. The backend stuff tends to be very complex and it would be a waste of time to reinvent the wheel. I do think there' s a lot of potential for improving the user experience on the client side, finding new ways to simplify and augment the current offering. Too bad the main player in this space (Gmail) doesn't offer the kind of API access needed for a deep integration, maybe in the future.

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#17

Post by udaycoder » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 2:06 PM UTC

cliveowen wrote: post #16

I don't think we need another email service. The backend stuff tends to be very complex and it would be a waste of time to reinvent the wheel. I do think there' s a lot of potential for improving the user experience on the client side, finding new ways to simplify and augment the current offering. Too bad the main player in this space (Gmail) doesn't offer the kind of API access needed for a deep integration, maybe i…

It is true that backend stuff is complex. My idea is to improve the existing one and do some cool stuff on the UI. I strongly believe that there is scope for many players in this segment.

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#18

Post by gregmorton » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 2:13 PM UTC

I'll die for an emailbox where I could rearrange my mails on the fly.

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#19

Post by a3n » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 2:23 PM UTC

NKCSS wrote: post #14

Paying for Google to host the e-mail for all companies; ran private exchange before; it's just not worth it :) Imho, it's extremely hard to beat what Google offers.

There's one thing that Google cannot offer: not being Google. That's a feature for me and many others.

Re: Ask HN: Do we need another email service?

#20

Post by a3n » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 2:32 PM UTC

Yes, we need another paid email service. Competition is good.

Besides the obvious gmail, I think your fundamental competitor in the not-gmail space is fastmail.fm or something like it. If you think you can make a go of it at those prices, plus or minus an order of magnitude, then have at it.

Mail is not for the faint of heart. Besides the technical details (which are harder than most people assume), you have to operate in a way that you earn and keep the trust of your customers. You have to not lose mail, you have to stay up.

You have to accept that you'll be an unwilling partner to the NSA and other law enforcement. You'll also be a target of under the table surveillance by the NSA and other spies and criminals.

You have to get email fundamentally, rock solidly right. Above that there's lots of room for features and services more or less related to email.

You're going to have to work hard to peel me away from fastmail, and you'll have to work even harder to peel everyone else away from gmail, or even to get them to notice you.

I look forward to your Show HN (truly).