"Configure your email client (e.g. Outlook, Eudora, Netscape Mail)": SAY WHAT??
Been a long time since I wrote a blog post, but in looking at Gmail settings today (as to why is subject for another post...) I noticed the above.
How many of you can even remember Eudora or Netscape Mail? Anyone still using those applications? I am sure some people. Outlook has held on because people have it at work, almost noone outside of an office chooses to use it.
And yet nobody at Google has changed the above.
Why?
Well, it's in settings that are buried and only an explanation, not a feature itself ("e.g").
In addition it is not something that is broken, just awkward.
But why did it trigger my interest?
Because how quickly our habits change -- especially in area that is close to my heart, in communications and messaging.
Not so long ago desktop email clients were the standard way consumers and worker bees alike managed their email traffic. In addition there were desktop applications for what we called then "Instant Messaging." (as opposed to email that was seen as less than instant and more formal as well as cluttered)
The web/cloud picked up steam obviously for many years, but messaging remained application centered, Sure there were servers out there helping our mail move from place to place but it felt more like a traditional letter, especially if we deleted from server as we downloaded (anyone remember that?). The more geeky among us knew that even if we deleted from server chances were there still were copies somewhere, but for most consumers once email was downloaded it was only on their computer, especially for consumer email.
Hotmail (which came before Gmail) and other webmail providers started to change the user experience paradigm. But it was only with Gmail that it went completely mainstream. And even gmail at first assumed that many, as indicated above, would continue using a desktop client to manage their email.
Today gmail can handle it all, multiple addresses, and can even work in off-line mode. We have gmail apps on our deskptop, ipad, iphone, android, etc.
And yet that certainly wasn't enough, Google continues to try and improve the experience, with layers like "Inbox" and third players like Sanemail try to help Gmail work better.
On top of that even in Google, clickable from Gmail, are other products like Gchat, and then there are hangouts, Google +.
All within Google!
Once we leave world of Google we see Facebook Messenger (they gave up on email product). WhatsApp. Skype. Zula.
Which of these will people still be using in 5 years? 10 years. Difficult to tell. Eudora has not been available to download for many years, and the same goes for Netscape Mail. They live on only in the buried settings of Gmail.
However less than ten years ago they were both very much alive. 15 years ago Eudora was a major check of the email application market.
I personally don't think Outlook will survive either. Recently tried Office 365 Online, painful experience. But in the enterprise market things live on for a long time. Heck, many big companies still have IBM mainframes and need COBOL engineers to maintain their code.
While Zula is my direct interest in this market -- I am fascinated in general at the trends in communication, and the increasing speed at which new things come (and sometimes go). Will Snapchat be around in 5 years? I wouldn't bet too much on either possibility. Too early to tell. But I guarantee will be VERY different in 5 years.
OK, need to go look for my Palm 5 to see my meetings for rest of the day. Peace.
