Email
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I hardly use my email. The only times I remember open it are when I need to verify my email. I have thousands of unread emails from my family which simply link to articles that would be interesting for me to read if I ever had the time.
There's also the dreaded mailing lists. They're an example of why email is terrible for group communication. Email only works well for communication between two people, and no more.
It seems like I'm not alone on this, at least not amongst people I go to school with. The adults in my life however use email religiously.
Email also seems to serve as the internet's backbone - without an email, you basically exclude yourself from participating in a majority of communities. Almost every service, forum, site, etc you sign up for wants or needs your email. Even Google accounts, which now integrate with many websites, are identified by email.
What are your thoughts on the matter and the state of email and its relation to the internet? Personally, I think the internet jumped the gun on email.
There's also the dreaded mailing lists. They're an example of why email is terrible for group communication. Email only works well for communication between two people, and no more.
It seems like I'm not alone on this, at least not amongst people I go to school with. The adults in my life however use email religiously.
Email also seems to serve as the internet's backbone - without an email, you basically exclude yourself from participating in a majority of communities. Almost every service, forum, site, etc you sign up for wants or needs your email. Even Google accounts, which now integrate with many websites, are identified by email.
What are your thoughts on the matter and the state of email and its relation to the internet? Personally, I think the internet jumped the gun on email.
| LB wrote: |
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| What are your thoughts on the matter and the state of email and its relation to the internet? Personally, I think the internet jumped the gun on email. |
Jumped the gun? The internet's history can be traced back to the early 60s and email's history can be traced back to the early 70s. Requiring emails is just one way for a site to prove you are the person really wanting to make the account and not just some guy punching in a random email to make the account (which would also make you no longer able to make an account if you stumble upon it later). It is mainly for security reasons and using Google and Facebook accounts make it so that they know it is really you wanting the account and not someone using random emails.
I questioned "jumping the gun" because of what it means:
How is it jumping the gun? It has been around only 10 years less than internet but still around a long time so your comment is confusing to me.
Yes, emails is one way, the other common security ways are requiring a cell phone number or home number to call, or a credit card to prove you are who you claim.
| The idiom Jump the gun has its roots in an athlete starting a race before the starting pistol is fired. It refers to someone or to an act when it is started earlier than expected, or when something is spoken without required thinking. |
How is it jumping the gun? It has been around only 10 years less than internet but still around a long time so your comment is confusing to me.
Yes, emails is one way, the other common security ways are requiring a cell phone number or home number to call, or a credit card to prove you are who you claim.
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Yeah, I meant to say internet, but changed it to 'it'. I still don't see how internet jumped the gun though as it is the website admins who choose if a site requires verification or not or if it requires a different means to verify a user.
That's the problem, so many people accepted email as-is that nobody every tried to make an alternative. Now, we're so stuck with it that nobody can make an alternative.
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I've been biting my tongue, but the internet is just protocols, web admins and others are just internet users. ;)
We can do away with email and require credit card verification from now on. This would also effectively implement age verification.
We can do away with email and require credit card verification from now on. This would also effectively implement age verification.
closed account (z05DSL3A)
Errm, I've use email for a 'long' time and it has changed quite a bit.
What do you require it to do?
What do you require it to do?
What exactly are you expecting? "E-Mail" is electronic mail. You aren't being clear on what you have a problem with as to why it needs changed.
closed account (z05DSL3A)
| LB wrote: |
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| How has email changed, exactly? |
Then:
SNDMSG MSG ('How long will the system be up today?')
TOMSGQ(*SYSOPR) MSGTYPE(*INQ) |
now ...
The only thing I see wrong with email today is SPAM, but that is nothing to do with how email works or anything.
I would like to see cryptography integrated into mail clients but that is also not anything to do with the email system per se.
Ah, I'm not very familiar with the early days of email and the internet. But, we're getting kind of sidetracked here.
| LB wrote: |
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| I never asked for it to be changed, where are you pulling these ideas from? |
Then what is your problem? Because it seems you have both an issue with email and the fact that sites use them for making accounts.
Alternatives to email...really are none. I've never had issues using it for group communications, but if you have an issue with that you can find different alternatives like hosting a private board that only you are part of. Otherwise I just do this:
To: mainperson@<host.com> Cc: rest_of_team_emails@<host.com> Subject: <subject> Message: <message> |
Then when replying, I just reply to the TO: person and Cc to the rest of the team. Or just email each individual as a question comes up and don't worry about the whole group knowing. Otherwise you can use a private board, irc, or such to do the discussion in real time.
Alternatives to using email to make accounts. Email is used as a layer of security to send verification to you to make sure you actually signed up for the site. The only alternatives that would offer the same security would be a credit card in your name or the less secure would be calling a phone number to get the information verified.
| LB wrote: |
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| Ah, I'm not very familiar with the early days of email and the internet. |
@Canis lupus
I think he just aged us a bit ;).
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I have a problem with mailing lists, digests, and group conversations via email. I don't have a problem with email itself.
With group emails, things tend to get messy very quickly. You almost always have to manually order and include everyone's emails in your replies, otherwise you get reddit-like email chains that have no context to each other.
The problem with using email for creating accounts: how do you create your first email account? What's significant about an email account when you can just create new ones with ease?
I didn't intend to make you feel elderly, haha. Being 18 means that I simply did not experience the early internet.
With group emails, things tend to get messy very quickly. You almost always have to manually order and include everyone's emails in your replies, otherwise you get reddit-like email chains that have no context to each other.
The problem with using email for creating accounts: how do you create your first email account? What's significant about an email account when you can just create new ones with ease?
I didn't intend to make you feel elderly, haha. Being 18 means that I simply did not experience the early internet.
closed account (z05DSL3A)
| With group emails, things tend to get messy very quickly. You almost always have to manually order and include everyone's emails in your replies, otherwise you get reddit-like email chains that have no context to each other. |
| The problem with using email for creating accounts: how do you create your first email account? What's significant about an email account when you can just create new ones with ease? |
| I didn't intend to make you feel elderly, haha. Being 18 means that I simply did not experience the early internet. |
closed account (N36fSL3A)
Really no one I know in real life uses email, but I do use it a lot for messaging others and receiving information about my PayPal and Ebay, so I check it often.
I use it sometimes to send my teachers assignments, and I use it to receive small freelance work to make a quick buck here and there.
I use it sometimes to send my teachers assignments, and I use it to receive small freelance work to make a quick buck here and there.
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