On 1/26/10 7:27 PM, "LuKreme" <[email protected]> wrote: >> I DO have to care about such things with email. Having the same storage >> metaphor across devices is important, unless your only interface is a search >> window. > > > Then you almost certainly want to use a bare IMAP folder view and not add any > bells and whistles to your UI for things like smart folders. That's no reason > to say the Letters should not have those features you won't use, is it?
I don't care if there's a plugin to have your email scrawl across a unicorn's ass, and you click the horn to send. If you want to view your mail in a tesseract via klein bottle screens, and you are completely self supporting at every single level, what you do, how you do it, and why only ever affects you. For people who are "power users" and DON'T run a local email server on every box they use, and don't actually know much about the ins and outs of email, it's a different story. What I care very deeply about is the default view, because that is the one most people will use the most. I care very deeply that this application will use terms that are commonly known to all in the world of email, so that when communicating outside of the application, no one gets lost. I care very deeply that when I ask a user who might be using letters, "do you see N messages in your inbox, because as I look directly at the server store, I can see there are N messages", that they will be able to look at that application, and see an Inbox that is WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, not some magical search field that has nothing to do with this and is an aggregate of 9028 <objects>, so that we can easily and quickly establish what the issue may be, rather than me having the only way to support this application be via friggin' Apple Remote Desktop, VNC or something else, or telling people "I cannot help you with that application when you are not on a reliable, high speed connection that has <port numbers open> because it will take entirely too long for you and I to figure out what is in what folder". Presenting data in a consistent way in a given context that everyone agrees upon, even people who cannot see someone's screen, and may not know a flippin' iota about UnicornAssMail.app is important, because it is the only way someone having email issues can figure out what the problem is. "Funk off it works in webmail" is a wonderful tactic..if you're a complete asswipe IT shit who hates your users, and likes power trips. It may surprise many, but I don't do things that way, and I've little patience for those who do. Playing "Ain't it cool" is fun, but I would hope that this application is supposed to be useful to an audience beyond people actually building it. If that is the case, while you cannot, nor should you design ONLY for support issues, you cannot, nor should you IGNORE them. I don't see Letters providing support to its users, so it has to have SOMETHING to do with conventional email terminology other than giving it the finger. -- John C. Welch Writer/Analyst Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions [email protected] _______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list List help: http://lists.ranchero.com/listinfo.cgi/email-init-ranchero.com
