Email As A Platform
from the it's-more-than-it-seems... dept
It looks like more people are starting to realize that email is more than it seems. Especially given the drastic increase in storage size of web-based email applications, more people are realizing that email is basically a personal database. People simply store information in their email, from contact information that was emailed to them to schedule information to purchase tracking from emailed receipts. Lots of people email messages to themselves, realizing that email is basically the best "permanent" filing system they have. That's part of the reason why good email search is so important. Of course, what the article doesn't discuss is the next stage of this evolution. If you have a database of important information, the next step is to build useful applications on top of it. In other words, people are starting to realize that email, itself, is a platform for personal information management.
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No Subject Given
Nobody can "insert records" arbitrarily into my SQL database, now can they? (Think SPAM).
Email is OPEN. It can't really be used effectively as a platform for anything much more than it is now until it is SECURED.
And it will never BE secured until the free sending of email is ended.
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No Subject Given
Email may be OK for information transfer and communication but it's only the information-store of the terminally lazy. There are any number of `Stickies' or rolodex-a-like filing system utilities available - or failing all else, USE *THE* FILESYSTEM.
Of course, if you're dead set on storing data with RFC2822 gunk wastefully splatted all around it, you might find Zöe useful too...
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No Subject Given
Heck, some smart linux programmers made a FILESYSTEM based on gmail that mounts like a regular network drive!
(can't speak to how well it works since I've never used it, but I'm told by people I know it works slow, but well).
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Storage is just the start
Esther Dyson calls this "Meta-Mail". And our members find this very useful.
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Re: Storage is just the start
Seems to work purt' durned well.
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