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Showing posts with label email. Show all posts
Showing posts with label email. Show all posts

Saturday, December 13, 2025

Envisioning xAI’s Email Service on the X Platform




Envisioning xAI’s Email Service on the X Platform

The Dawn of AI-Rich Communication

In a world where digital communication is as essential as breathing, email remains one of the internet’s oldest living organs—still vital, still overworked, and quietly overdue for reinvention. For decades, email has been the backbone of professional and personal communication, yet it has evolved mostly by accumulation rather than redesign: more filters, more folders, more tabs—more cognitive clutter.

Now, a disruption may be coming from an unexpected direction.

Following Elon Musk’s 2025 consolidation of xAI and the X platform (formerly Twitter) into a single, tightly integrated ecosystem, speculation has intensified around a long-rumored project: an AI-native email service, often referred to as XMail. While not yet fully launched, public hints, domain activity, and Musk’s long-standing ambition to build an “everything app” suggest that email is squarely in xAI’s sights.

If realized, XMail would not merely compete with Gmail or Outlook. It could redefine what email is, transforming it from a static inbox into a living, AI-augmented communication layer—deeply social, context-aware, and embedded in the real-time pulse of the internet.

This article explores what such a service might look like, how it would differ from existing email providers, and why the idea of an “AI-rich” email experience represents a structural shift—not just a feature upgrade.


What Might xAI’s Email on X Look Like?

Imagine opening the X app—not just to scroll timelines or join live conversations, but to manage your inbox with the same fluidity and immediacy. In this vision, email is no longer a separate destination. It is a native organ of the platform, as integral as posts, DMs, Spaces, or payments.

A Native Layer, Not a Bolt-On

Rather than a standalone website or app, XMail would likely live inside X itself—accessible via a dedicated tab or sidebar. Users might receive addresses like @x.ai, signaling that email is now part of a broader identity layer, not just a mailbox.

This would mark a philosophical shift:
Email would stop being a silo and become a node in a networked identity graph.

Key Capabilities (Speculative but Plausible)

1. Social-Contextual Email
Emails would no longer arrive stripped of context. If you’re emailing someone you follow—or who follows you—Grok could automatically surface:

  • Relevant past X interactions

  • Shared posts or Spaces

  • Mutual communities or interests

Email becomes a continuation of conversation, not a cold start.

2. Grok-Powered Inbox Intelligence
Powered by xAI’s Grok models, the inbox could behave less like a filing cabinet and more like a chief of staff:

  • “Summarize everything important from the last 72 hours.”

  • “Draft a firm but friendly response.”

  • “Turn this email into a public post.”

  • “Schedule a meeting and notify everyone.”

Tone, intent, and audience could be adjusted conversationally—professional, casual, witty, or assertive—without rewriting from scratch.

3. Rich, Living Messages
Instead of static text blocks, emails could embed:

  • Live X posts and threads

  • Videos and Spaces replays

  • Collaborative drafts editable in real time

An email might begin private and evolve into a public discussion—or move seamlessly into a Space or group chat.

4. Privacy and User Control by Design
Given Musk’s emphasis on speech, sovereignty, and platform control, XMail could emphasize:

  • End-to-end encryption as default

  • Explicit opt-outs from AI training

  • On-device or edge-based AI processing

  • Developer access via xAI APIs

Rather than monetizing attention through ads, advanced features could be bundled with X Premium+ or SuperGrok subscriptions.

5. A Mobile-First, Scroll-Native Interface
Visually, expect minimalism:

  • Dark mode as default

  • Infinite thread views

  • AI-generated previews and summaries

  • Predictive notifications that surface urgency—not noise

Email becomes something you flow through, not something you dread opening.


How Would XMail Differ from Gmail, Outlook, or ProtonMail?

Most email providers today are incrementalists—they improve around the edges of a 1990s paradigm. XMail, by contrast, would be architectural.

1. AI at the Core, Not the Periphery

Gmail’s Gemini and Outlook’s Copilot are useful—but they feel like assistants invited late to the meeting. They summarize and suggest, but they don’t restructure the experience.

XMail could be built AI-first:

  • Proactive, not reactive

  • Context-aware across social, public, and private layers

  • Designed around intent, not folders

Email becomes an interface to thinking, not just messaging.

2. Ecosystem Integration vs. App Fragmentation

Today’s digital life is fragmented:

  • Email in one app

  • Social in another

  • Files elsewhere

  • Payments somewhere else

XMail would collapse these layers. An email could:

  • Spawn a post

  • Trigger a payment

  • Launch a Space

  • Become a collaborative document

Communication stops switching contexts—and starts compounding value.

3. Privacy + Intelligence (A Rare Combination)

ProtonMail offers strong privacy, but limited AI. Gmail offers AI, but monetizes attention and data. XMail could attempt a third path:

  • Strong encryption

  • Explicit user controls

  • Paid AI instead of ad-driven AI

If successful, this would challenge the assumption that intelligence must come at the cost of autonomy.

4. Speed, Scale, and Global Reach

Built on xAI’s modern infrastructure, XMail could deliver:

  • Near-instant search across massive inboxes

  • AI-assisted retrieval instead of keyword hunting

  • Resilience in regions where traditional platforms are restricted

Email becomes not just faster—but globally antifragile.


What Is an “AI-Rich” Email Service, Really?

An AI-rich email service isn’t just smarter—it is cognitively lighter.

It reduces friction, anticipates intent, and absorbs complexity so humans can focus on meaning.

Core Characteristics

Intelligent Prioritization
AI decides what deserves your attention—and what doesn’t.

Contextual Understanding
The system understands relationships, history, and relevance—not just text.

Assisted Creation
From drafting to optimizing tone, clarity, and timing, AI acts as a co-author.

Personalization at Scale
Each message adapts to the recipient, the moment, and the medium.

Proactivity Over Reactivity
The inbox tells you what matters before you ask.

In xAI’s vision, Grok’s broader knowledge base could further enrich this—connecting emails to real-world events, market shifts, or cultural context. Email becomes less clerical and more strategic.


Conclusion: Email’s Second Renaissance

If—or as mounting signals suggest, when—xAI launches an email service on X, it won’t merely be another inbox. It could mark email’s second renaissance.

By fusing:

  • Deep AI intelligence

  • Social context

  • Real-time communication

  • User-controlled monetization

XMail has the potential to transform email from a passive archive into an active thinking partner.

Whether it dethrones Gmail is an open question. But something more important may be happening:
Email, long treated as digital paperwork, may finally evolve into what it was always meant to be—a living medium for human connection, amplified by intelligence rather than buried under it.

In the age of xAI, the inbox may stop being a burden—and start becoming a force multiplier.




X प्लेटफ़ॉर्म पर xAI की ईमेल सेवा की कल्पना

AI-समृद्ध संचार का नया सवेरा

एक ऐसी दुनिया में जहाँ डिजिटल संचार साँस लेने जितना ही अनिवार्य हो चुका है, ईमेल आज भी इंटरनेट की सबसे पुरानी लेकिन जीवित प्रणालियों में से एक है—अत्यंत आवश्यक, लगातार बोझिल, और चुपचाप पुनर्कल्पना की प्रतीक्षा में। दशकों से ईमेल व्यक्तिगत और पेशेवर संवाद की रीढ़ रहा है, लेकिन इसका विकास अधिकतर जोड़-तोड़ के ज़रिये हुआ है—और अधिक फ़िल्टर, और अधिक फ़ोल्डर, और अधिक टैब—यानि और अधिक मानसिक अव्यवस्था।

अब, इस जड़ता को तोड़ने वाला बदलाव एक अप्रत्याशित दिशा से आ सकता है।

2025 में एलन मस्क द्वारा xAI और X प्लेटफ़ॉर्म (पूर्व में ट्विटर) के एकीकृत होने के बाद, एक लंबे समय से चर्चित परियोजना को लेकर अटकलें तेज़ हो गई हैं: एक AI-नेटिव ईमेल सेवा, जिसे अक्सर XMail कहा जा रहा है। भले ही यह सेवा अभी पूरी तरह लॉन्च न हुई हो, लेकिन सार्वजनिक संकेत, डोमेन गतिविधियाँ, और “एवरीथिंग ऐप” बनाने की मस्क की दीर्घकालिक महत्वाकांक्षा यह संकेत देती है कि ईमेल अब xAI के निशाने पर है।

यदि XMail साकार होता है, तो यह सिर्फ Gmail या Outlook से प्रतिस्पर्धा नहीं करेगा—बल्कि ईमेल की परिभाषा ही बदल सकता है। यह ईमेल को एक स्थिर इनबॉक्स से निकालकर एक जीवंत, AI-संवर्धित संचार परत में बदल सकता है—जो सामाजिक, संदर्भ-सचेत और इंटरनेट की रीयल-टाइम धड़कन से जुड़ी हो।

यह लेख इस बात की पड़ताल करता है कि ऐसी सेवा कैसी दिख सकती है, यह मौजूदा ईमेल प्रदाताओं से कैसे अलग होगी, और क्यों “AI-समृद्ध” ईमेल अनुभव महज़ फीचर अपग्रेड नहीं बल्कि एक संरचनात्मक बदलाव है।


X पर xAI की ईमेल सेवा कैसी दिख सकती है?

कल्पना कीजिए कि आप X ऐप खोलते हैं—सिर्फ़ टाइमलाइन स्क्रॉल करने या लाइव बातचीत में शामिल होने के लिए नहीं, बल्कि उसी सहजता और प्रवाह के साथ अपना इनबॉक्स संभालने के लिए।

इस दृष्टि में, ईमेल कोई अलग गंतव्य नहीं रहेगा। वह प्लेटफ़ॉर्म का एक मूल अंग होगा—पोस्ट्स, DMs, Spaces और भुगतान जितना ही अनिवार्य।

ऐड-ऑन नहीं, मूल परत

किसी अलग वेबसाइट या ऐप के बजाय, XMail संभवतः X के भीतर ही अंतर्निहित होगा—साइडबार या एक समर्पित टैब के ज़रिये उपलब्ध। उपयोगकर्ताओं को @x.ai जैसे ईमेल पते मिल सकते हैं, जो यह दर्शाते हैं कि ईमेल अब सिर्फ़ एक मेलबॉक्स नहीं बल्कि एक डिजिटल पहचान परत है।

यह एक दार्शनिक बदलाव होगा:
ईमेल एक अलग-थलग प्रणाली न रहकर नेटवर्क्ड पहचान ग्राफ़ का नोड बन जाएगा।

संभावित (लेकिन यथार्थवादी) क्षमताएँ

1. सामाजिक-संदर्भित ईमेल
ईमेल अब बिना संदर्भ के नहीं आएंगे। यदि आप किसी ऐसे व्यक्ति को ईमेल कर रहे हैं जिसे आप X पर फ़ॉलो करते हैं (या जो आपको फ़ॉलो करता है), तो Grok स्वतः ही दिखा सकता है:

  • हालिया X इंटरैक्शन

  • साझा पोस्ट या Spaces

  • समान समुदाय या रुचियाँ

ईमेल ठंडी शुरुआत नहीं रहेगा, बल्कि बातचीत की निरंतरता बनेगा।

2. Grok-संचालित इनबॉक्स बुद्धिमत्ता
xAI के Grok मॉडल से संचालित इनबॉक्स किसी फ़ाइल कैबिनेट की तरह नहीं, बल्कि एक चीफ़ ऑफ़ स्टाफ़ की तरह काम कर सकता है:

  • “पिछले 72 घंटों की सबसे ज़रूरी ईमेल्स का सार बताओ।”

  • “कड़ा लेकिन दोस्ताना जवाब ड्राफ़्ट करो।”

  • “इस ईमेल को सार्वजनिक पोस्ट में बदल दो।”

  • “मीटिंग शेड्यूल कर दो और सभी को सूचित कर दो।”

टोन, उद्देश्य और श्रोता—सब कुछ संवाद के माध्यम से बदला जा सकेगा, बिना सब कुछ दोबारा लिखे।

3. समृद्ध और जीवंत संदेश
स्थिर टेक्स्ट ब्लॉक्स की जगह, ईमेल में शामिल हो सकते हैं:

  • लाइव X पोस्ट और थ्रेड

  • वीडियो और Spaces की रिकॉर्डिंग

  • रीयल-टाइम में संपादित होने वाले सहयोगी ड्राफ़्ट

एक ईमेल निजी रूप से शुरू होकर सार्वजनिक चर्चा या लाइव बातचीत में बदल सकता है।

4. गोपनीयता और उपयोगकर्ता नियंत्रण—डिज़ाइन में ही
मस्क के अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता और डेटा संप्रभुता पर ज़ोर को देखते हुए, XMail में संभव है:

  • डिफ़ॉल्ट एंड-टू-एंड एन्क्रिप्शन

  • AI ट्रेनिंग से स्पष्ट ऑप्ट-आउट

  • ऑन-डिवाइस या एज-आधारित AI प्रोसेसिंग

  • डेवलपर्स के लिए xAI APIs

ध्यान को बेचने वाले विज्ञापनों के बजाय, उन्नत सुविधाएँ X Premium+ या SuperGrok सब्सक्रिप्शन के साथ बंडल हो सकती हैं।

5. मोबाइल-फर्स्ट, स्क्रॉल-नेटिव डिज़ाइन
दृश्य रूप से:

  • डार्क मोड डिफ़ॉल्ट

  • अनंत थ्रेड व्यू

  • AI-जनरेटेड प्रीव्यू और सारांश

  • तात्कालिकता समझने वाली भविष्यवाणी-आधारित नोटिफ़िकेशन

ईमेल एक बोझ नहीं, बल्कि एक प्रवाह बन जाएगा।


Gmail, Outlook या ProtonMail से XMail कैसे अलग होगा?

आज के अधिकांश ईमेल प्रदाता क्रमिक सुधारक हैं—वे 1990 के दशक की संरचना के चारों ओर सुधार करते हैं। XMail, इसके विपरीत, संरचनात्मक बदलाव हो सकता है।

1. AI केंद्र में, किनारे पर नहीं

Gmail का Gemini और Outlook का Copilot उपयोगी हैं—लेकिन वे अक्सर ऐसे लगते हैं जैसे मीटिंग में देर से आए सहायक।

XMail AI-फर्स्ट हो सकता है:

  • प्रतिक्रियाशील नहीं, बल्कि सक्रिय

  • सामाजिक और सार्वजनिक संदर्भ से जुड़ा

  • फ़ोल्डरों के बजाय इरादों के इर्द-गिर्द डिज़ाइन किया गया

ईमेल केवल संदेश नहीं, बल्कि सोचने का इंटरफ़ेस बन सकता है।

2. इकोसिस्टम एकीकरण बनाम ऐप विखंडन

आज की डिजिटल ज़िंदगी खंडित है:

  • ईमेल एक ऐप में

  • सोशल मीडिया दूसरे में

  • फ़ाइलें कहीं और

  • भुगतान किसी और जगह

XMail इन सबको एक साथ ला सकता है। एक ईमेल:

  • पोस्ट बन सकता है

  • भुगतान ट्रिगर कर सकता है

  • Space शुरू कर सकता है

  • सहयोगी दस्तावेज़ बन सकता है

संदर्भ बदलना बंद—और मूल्य का संयोजन शुरू।

3. गोपनीयता + बुद्धिमत्ता (दुर्लभ संयोजन)

ProtonMail में गोपनीयता है, AI नहीं। Gmail में AI है, लेकिन ध्यान और डेटा का व्यवसाय भी। XMail तीसरा रास्ता अपना सकता है:

  • मज़बूत एन्क्रिप्शन

  • स्पष्ट उपयोगकर्ता नियंत्रण

  • विज्ञापन-आधारित नहीं, बल्कि भुगतान-आधारित AI

यदि सफल हुआ, तो यह धारणा टूट सकती है कि बुद्धिमत्ता की कीमत स्वायत्तता होती है।

4. गति, पैमाना और वैश्विक पहुँच

xAI के आधुनिक इंफ़्रास्ट्रक्चर पर बना XMail दे सकता है:

  • विशाल इनबॉक्स में त्वरित खोज

  • कीवर्ड नहीं, AI-सहायित पुनर्प्राप्ति

  • उन क्षेत्रों में भी मजबूती जहाँ पारंपरिक प्लेटफ़ॉर्म सीमित हैं

ईमेल तेज़ ही नहीं, बल्कि वैश्विक रूप से लचीला बन सकता है।


वास्तव में “AI-समृद्ध” ईमेल सेवा क्या होती है?

AI-समृद्ध ईमेल सिर्फ़ स्मार्ट नहीं होती—वह मानसिक बोझ को कम करती है

यह जटिलता को आत्मसात करती है ताकि मनुष्य अर्थ और निर्णय पर ध्यान दे सके।

मुख्य विशेषताएँ

बुद्धिमान प्राथमिकता निर्धारण
AI तय करता है कि क्या महत्वपूर्ण है—और क्या नहीं।

संदर्भ की समझ
रिश्तों, इतिहास और प्रासंगिकता की समझ—सिर्फ़ टेक्स्ट नहीं।

सहायित सृजन
ड्राफ़्टिंग से लेकर टोन और टाइमिंग तक—AI सह-लेखक की तरह।

व्यापक निजीकरण
हर संदेश प्राप्तकर्ता, समय और माध्यम के अनुसार ढलता है।

प्रतिक्रिया नहीं, पूर्व-अनुमान
इनबॉक्स आपको बताता है कि क्या मायने रखता है—पूछने से पहले।

xAI के दृष्टिकोण में, Grok का व्यापक ज्ञान इसे और समृद्ध कर सकता है—ईमेल को वास्तविक दुनिया की घटनाओं, बाज़ार परिवर्तनों और सांस्कृतिक संदर्भ से जोड़ते हुए।


निष्कर्ष: ईमेल का दूसरा पुनर्जागरण

यदि—या बढ़ते संकेतों के अनुसार, जब—xAI X पर ईमेल सेवा लॉन्च करता है, तो वह सिर्फ़ एक और इनबॉक्स नहीं होगा। वह ईमेल के दूसरे पुनर्जागरण की शुरुआत हो सकती है।

AI की गहराई, सामाजिक संदर्भ, रीयल-टाइम संचार और उपयोगकर्ता-नियंत्रित मुद्रीकरण को जोड़कर, XMail ईमेल को एक निष्क्रिय संग्रह से बदलकर सक्रिय सोच साथी बना सकता है।

क्या यह Gmail को पछाड़ देगा—यह भविष्य बताएगा।
लेकिन इससे भी महत्वपूर्ण यह है कि ईमेल, जिसे लंबे समय तक डिजिटल काग़ज़ी काम समझा गया, शायद अंततः वही बन जाए जिसके लिए वह बना था—
मानवीय संबंधों का जीवंत माध्यम, जो बुद्धिमत्ता से सशक्त हो, बोझ से दबा नहीं।

xAI के युग में, इनबॉक्स शायद समस्या नहीं रहेगा—
वह शक्ति गुणक बन सकता है।



Monday, May 26, 2025

The AI-Era Browser Is Not a Browser—It’s the Beginning of a New Operating System

AI-Era Web Browser, Brought To You By Perplexity


The AI-Era Browser Is Not a Browser—It’s the Beginning of a New Operating System

The AI-era browser is a misnomer. What’s emerging isn’t just a better web browser—it’s the gateway to a radical redefinition of computing itself. If the browser was once a portal to the internet, the AI-era "browser" collapses the distinction between application, operating system, and assistant. This isn’t Chrome 2.0. It’s Windows, Google Docs, and Outlook all dissolving into one ambient, intelligent workspace.

The Collapse of Layers

For decades, computing has been organized around layers: the OS (Windows/macOS/Linux), the browser (Chrome, Safari), applications (Office, Gmail, Slack), and finally the content layer (documents, email threads, web pages). But AI flattens these distinctions.

Why open an email app when your AI assistant already synthesized the message and extracted the tasks into your workspace? Why switch between browser tabs when your AI knows the context of your work and surfaces relevant research in a single view? The AI-era browser isn’t a tabbed chaos engine—it’s a cognitive environment.

From Search to Presence

The old web browser was built for searching, clicking, and consuming. The AI-era browser is built for presence, action, and decision-making. It's not something you “use”—it's something that lives with you, learns you, and acts with you.

At the core of this transformation is ambient computing: the seamless blending of device, interface, and intention. You’re not just typing into a box anymore. You’re engaging with an intelligence that understands your project, your goals, your calendar, your files, your team, and your knowledge graph.

Email, Meet Your End

AI doesn't just triage your inbox—it eliminates the need for one. Conversations become actions. Notifications become workflows. Email as a separate silo becomes obsolete when your assistant already summarized the key points and turned them into decisions. You don’t open Gmail. You just approve, edit, or delegate within your fluid workstream.

OS + Browser + Workspace = One

This is why calling it a “browser” misses the point. What’s being birthed is a unified interface layer—a meta-OS—that sits atop everything and integrates all. In time, it might replace the OS itself. Imagine a workspace that flows across devices, geographies, and mediums, tied together by persistent AI memory and personal context. This is not Chrome vs. Edge. This is post-OS computing.

Intersections Ahead

Interesting intersections are fast approaching:

  • LLMs meet filesystems – No more folders. Just ideas and relationships.

  • Personal knowledge graphs – Everything you’ve ever read, written, or watched, organized by context.

  • Agentic workflows – AI agents don’t just fetch; they act, iterate, and improve.

  • Persistent memory + spatial UI – A workspace that remembers, visualizes, and adapts.

The End of the App Era

Apps were the natural interface for the touchscreen generation. But now, instead of apps, we’ll have roles and functions powered by agents. Instead of “opening Zoom,” your AI connects you to the right person and manages the meeting. Instead of “opening Word,” your assistant begins drafting based on voice notes, research context, and prior documents. The app metaphor is dying. Workflows are what matter now.

Final Thought: The AI-Era Browser Is a Transitional Name

“Browser” is just the label we’re using because it’s familiar. But it’s like calling the Model T a “horse-drawn carriage.” What we’re seeing is the emergence of a new computing layer—part assistant, part memory, part workspace, all integrated. It’s the start of a new human-machine interface, one that transcends the keyboard, the mouse, and even the screen.

We are witnessing not the next browser war—but the dawn of the post-browser age. The future isn’t in tabs. It’s in tasks, context, and intelligent presence.

Welcome to the era of AI-native computing.

Monday, January 06, 2025

Revolutionizing Email: From Chronological Chaos to Smart AI Agents



Revolutionizing Email: From Chronological Chaos to Smart AI Agents

Email has come a long way since its inception. Hotmail wasn’t revolutionary because it invented email—email, after all, predates the web. It was revolutionary because it brought email online, freeing us from the confines of specific devices. Then came Gmail, which redefined the game by seamlessly integrating search functionality and offering significantly more storage space. But now, it’s time for the next evolution: marrying artificial intelligence (AI) with email.

Rethinking Chronological Organization

Email has traditionally been organized chronologically, and for a long time, this made sense. But in today’s fast-paced world, this system often feels outdated and overwhelming. AI has the potential to change that by tailoring email organization to our specific needs.

Imagine an inbox that adjusts itself based on your activities. In the morning, your emails might still appear chronologically, helping you quickly scan what came in overnight. But during deep work sessions, AI could surface only the emails most relevant to your current tasks, prioritizing context over time.

AI for Reading and Writing Emails

The integration of AI for email composition and reading is already underway, but there’s room to take it further. Think of AI not just as a helper for grammar checks or quick replies but as a full-fledged collaborator. For example:

  • Drafting detailed responses based on brief prompts.
  • Summarizing lengthy email threads into concise action points.
  • Highlighting key details from long emails so you don’t miss critical information.

Enter the AI Agent

The future of email might not just involve a smarter inbox but also a team of AI agents working tirelessly behind the scenes. These agents could:

  • Declutter Your Inbox: Automatically identify and delete emails of a certain description—think spam, outdated promotions, or irrelevant updates.
  • Create Dynamic Inboxes: Organize emails into smart, purpose-driven folders without you lifting a finger.
  • Prioritize Intelligently: Surface emails from key contacts or urgent matters at just the right time.

These AI agents wouldn’t just manage your email; they’d transform your experience of it, making it less overwhelming and more intuitive.

The Smart Inbox of the Future

In this new paradigm, your inbox wouldn’t just be a passive repository for messages. It would become an active assistant, understanding your needs and adapting to your workflow. No more sifting through hundreds of messages to find the one that matters. No more endless toggling between folders.

The smart inbox, powered by AI and AI agents, promises to make email a tool that works for you—not the other way around.

The Bottom Line

Just as Hotmail and Gmail ushered in new eras of email innovation, AI has the potential to redefine how we interact with email altogether. The next time you feel overwhelmed by your inbox, imagine a future where your email experience is tailored to you, effortless, and stress-free. That future is closer than you think.






Thursday, March 07, 2019

A Superhuman Invite



Rapportive founder’s new startup Superhuman is what Gmail would be if built today
Beyond Gmail: The new race to reinvent your inbox
Email Productivity with Superhuman
The Superhuman Change To My Current Email Tools
Superhuman
Rahul Vohra
Gaurav Vohra












Tuesday, October 08, 2013

1 TB: Yahoo Mail's Reentry With A Bang

August 2000 Issue of Yahoo! Internet Life
August 2000 Issue of Yahoo! Internet Life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Of all things Yahoo Mail could have done, 1 TB in free storage tops the charts. It totally grabbed my attention. Already in recent weeks I have been mass labeling a bunch of mail in my Yahoo inbox as spam so as to declutter.

Getting only relevant mail and 1 TB of free storage surely gets me to give Yahoo Mail a second look. There is no way I am walking away from Gmail. But we all can use a good second email address. I know I need one. Heck, I could use three. Let Hotmail compete.

I could use a Yahoo version of Google Drive for free online storage.
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Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Reading Every Comment


Fred Wilson writes great blog posts. His style of writing is remarkable. He naturally speaks simply and clearly. That is no small feat for someone who deals with some very complex technology for a living. But as impressive as his blog posts are I think where he truly shines is in his dedication to read every comment anyone ever leaves at his blog. Fred Wilson has not been able to read every email in his inbox in years. But he reads every comment left at his blog. Now you know how to get hold of him!

Fred Wilson: Reading Every Comment
I read every comment left on AVC. .... The community here is large and engaged. They can have a great conversation without me. .... I have long made peace with not reading every email that is sent to me. I bet I don't read more than 25% of the emails sent to me these days. I still manage to read every email my wife and kids send to me. And I still manage to read most of the email my colleagues at USV send to me. And I still manage to read most of the email our portfolio companies send to me. Beyond that, it's a crap shoot
Fred Wilson's Blog: A Gift That Keeps Giving
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Monday, July 23, 2012

Character Limits In Email

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase
Imagine an email service where when someone emails you for the first time their message has a character limit of something like 200. If you never open up their emails, they stay put at 200. And their messages don't count against your inbox space.

But if you open up their email, their limit goes up to 300 or 400 characters. But if you don't reply to their email, they stay there. On the other hand you could simply ban them and their privileged 200 characters are also gone.

But if you read and reply, the character limit goes up to 500 or more. Unless you specifically click on a button that allows them limitless space.

At one end are email concepts like on Facebook where you message me because we are connected. At the other end are regular email services where anyone can send you anything.

The inbox has to be like a cellular membrane. It has to protect the cell, but it also has to selectively allow outside stuff.

Beyond this "membrane" there have to be hard core demarcations. Facebook seems to have nailed social communication. Seems like people you know really well are only so many. And I feel like Asana is cracking the code on work communication. I have been reading up on it.


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Thursday, February 09, 2012

The Email Conundrum

Cover of "Groundhog Day/Ghostbusters/Stri...Cover of Groundhog Day/Ghostbusters/StripesFred Wilson: The Black Hole Of Email
I don't want to make email work better for me. I don't want to hire an assistant to do email for me. I don't want to try some new magical app that will make email better for me. ...... I give email an hour in the morning, an hour in the evening, and I dive into it throughout the day. The result is probably three hours a day in total. That's all I'm going to give email. And it is not enough to manage the inbound flow.
I don't have this problem. Usually when I am online I treat emails like they were text messages. I read and reply immediately. Saves me time. Short replies are not considered rude since I was polite enough to reply immediately. If I read an email but do not, can not reply immediately I use the Mark It As Unread feature to come to it later. I mean, Gmail is so central to my work, when I am emailing, I am working. My tech consulting team is global and email is absolutely the best way to keep moving. I look forward to the emails.

But then I don't read half the emails I get. You see who or what (usually what) sent it, you read the subject line and you realize they are not even worth deleting. Deleting would cost time. Instead I might mass delete in a few months. Mass deleting emails is fun. It is amazing how emails lose value over time. (Inbox Zero)

But I am nowhere close to Fred Wilson's scale. My question to Fred is, how big is your Inbox? Granted you don't read more than three out of 10 emails you get, but is your Inbox 99% full? Have you paid for a petabyte of Gmail space? Did Zynga go IPO?

That is not to say the Inbox is not a serious innovation territory. But the ultimate barrier there is human. You could end up with the best filters and still end up with too much email. I mean, if you have only three hours a day for email, there are only so many emails you can read. So you better have a great ultimate filter for people whose emails you don't want to miss.

I already have those filters. I use several platforms. If you are a stranger who just wants to say hello, send a tweet. That is the best way. If you know me well, send a Facebook email.

I don't even use the Priority Inbox. I guess I don't have an email problem. Not yet.

Reimagining The Inbox The Simple Way
Adam Smith And The Inbox Space
The Inbox: Like Search Before Google
The Inbox Could See New Life This Year
2010: Location, Random Connections, The Inbox, Frictionless Payments
The Search Results, The Links, The Inbox, The Stream
My Gmail Prayers Heard: Multiple Inboxes

Who you gonna call?

Friday, August 26, 2011

Email: Still A Swell Medium

Whoever says email is yesterday's thing is wrong. GroupOn is 100% dependent on email. Have you noted? Just make sure people willingly gave their emails to you. And even after that make it super easy for them to unsubscribe. Email marketing only works when it is super targeted. And make it pretty.





FoodSpotting API
FoodSpotting Follows Me On Twitter
With Jeremy Frank Of FoodSpotting
FoodSpotting's Dish As Starting Point
Twitter ---> Instagram ---> FoodSpotting
Looks Like FoodSpotting Rocked Austin

Friday, July 15, 2011

"Do You Have An Email Address?"


This had to have been in 2005, 2006. I was doing democracy work for Nepal. My blog was my primary tool. And I had the largest Nepali mailing list in the world. I had managed to penetrate all the key organizations inside the country and out. And I stayed on a constant lookout for new email addresses.

So I am at this event in Queens. It has not started yet. I am working the room, meeting people, blatantly asking for email addresses.

I came across this guy who apparently did not know what an email address was. Every Nepali in the city has a phone, but only a minority even today have email addresses.

"Would you have an email address?" I asked.

"I do, but I forgot it at home," he said and saved face.

The guy apparently thought I was talking about some kind of a physical object. Like, do you have a Vespa?
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Monday, November 15, 2010

Facebook Messaging: Awesome

You don't go after Google with search like Bing did. You go after it from an angle. Call it social, call it Facebook. And so I had no idea what Facebook's Gmail killer application would look like. That was the metaphor that had been making the rounds. Facebook is not calling it email. Facebook is calling it messaging.
Facebook Blog: See the Messages that Matter: Between mobile devices and the Internet we can be more connected today than ever before, but there is still a feeling that the technology can also act as a barrier between us. .... the next evolution of Messages ..... You shouldn't have to remember who prefers IM over email or worry about which technology to use. Simply choose their name and type a message. ..... All of your messages with someone will be together in one place, whether they are sent over chat, email or SMS. You can see everything you've discussed with each friend as a single conversation. ..... From "hey nice to meet you" to "do you want to get coffee sometime" to "our kids have soccer practice at 6 pm tonight." .... It seems wrong that an email message from your best friend gets sandwiched between a bill and a bank statement...... Instead of having to worry about your email address getting out, you're now in control of who can actually reach you. ..... Relatively soon, we'll probably all stop using arbitrary ten digit numbers and bizarre sequences of characters to contact each other.
Facebook has not disappointed. The expectations were high. They have been met.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

What Gmail Can Learn From Yahoo Mail

Image representing Gmail as depicted in CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBaseThere is this feature in Yahoo Mail, you click on the Sender column title at the top, and all your emails get organized by who sent you the email. You click on Date and all your emails in the inbox get similarly organized.

This feature comes in very handy when you are out to massacre emails. You want to save that rare email. On the other hand you don't want to have to delete emails one at a time.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Email Solutions

Image representing Gmail as depicted in CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBase
TechCrunch: Email Overload Fix: 3 Sentence Emails
Email has to be completely scalable. There can not be too much email. Not for nobody. That is the ultimate email solution. I could get 10 emails a day, or 10,000, and I still should not have to feel overwhelmed.

On the other hand, email has to have a holistic communication approach. It has to fit into the larger picture. That solution is multi platform.

One direction is condensing. It is about being able to visualize 10,000 tweets at once. Another direction is when you want to spend a lot of quality time with one or more people. Your communication platform should make that possible.

The inbox today is dreaded. That right there is a huge business opportunity, or two, or three. Gmail's Priority Inbox is a good step in the right direction, but it does not even begin to fathom the inbox of those who get deluged with emails.

Facebook helps. You get emails from people you are already "friends" with, or groups you signed up for. Strangers can email you, but they have to send out one email to one person at a time. Facebook email does cut out a lot of noise.

Twitter is my idea of the email client of tomorrow, but Twitter has been dragging its feet forever on adding features and simplifying its service.

The Gmail free phone is great. The voice feature of Gchat is great. Sometimes you want to dig into a conversation, and you want to zero in on a person, and text does not do it, so you talk. You get your headset going.

And then there is meeting in person. FourSquare can be a swell platform for that. FourSquare's social graph is special. While you are zeroing in on a person, you want to cut out all the noise, you don't want to be taking calls, you don't want to be seeing yet another incoming email.

For me blogging is an essential element of the larger complete communication platform. Being able to reach out to complete strangers who might also be talking about some of the same things you might be talking about is so very key.

But then all communication all the time is not what we could possibly be shooting for. Where is the time for non communication work? The time to get things done? The time to acquire new knowledge? Social is not 100% of the territory. Social is not 10% of the territory. The best communication platform knows when you are thinking, and lets you be: a phone that does not ring, a screen that goes into hibernation.

A good communication platform knows when you are on vacation. When you are off, you are off.
I have been impatient with Twitter. (User Friendly Twitter? Get Out Of Town) And I have been impatient with Gmail.

You should be able to visualize 100,000 tweets right on the Twitter website. And perhaps for Gmail the next big push after the Priority Inbox will be the word cloud. I should be able to say, create a word cloud for all my unread emails for the day. And when I hover over each word, I should see the names of each sender associated with that word, with the option to click and go to that specific email.

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Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Adam Smith And The Inbox Space

Image representing Adam Smith as depicted in C...Image via CrunchBase
This guy Adam Smith popped up in my inbox today. Responding to an urge by Fred Wilson a few days ago, I signed up for the Venture Hacks mailing list, and today they sent me Adam Smith. It has been a cool find. Although I remember getting amused by the inbox spelled backwards thing from a few years back, in passing, (I remember watching that Bill Gates video that Adam inserts in his presentation in the video below, and I might be off on the time stamp) I am learning the guy's name for the first time today.

Venture Hacks Daily Newsletter

My interest in Adam Smith is that I have been giving some thought to the inbox space here at my blog recently.

Reimagining The Inbox The Simple Way
2010: Location, Random Connections, The Inbox, Frictionless Payments

I like it how he says no he has not solved the inbox problem, that problem is too big, he has not even attempted to solve the inbox problem. More than humility, it is a matter of fact. There is much work that can be done in the inbox space. Could you make the inbox sexy again?

@asmith
@dharmesh



Adam Smith's blog. (founder of Xobni) "We make email software that makes it easier for people to manage relationships and find information in their email......included in the MIT Technology Review's list of Top 35 Innovators Under 35, and Inc Magazine's Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30."

From Zero to a Million Users - Dropbox and Xobni lessons learned
Amazon S3’s Pricing Model is Arbitragable, and the Future of Cloud Storage
The Market Opportunity to Undercut Sonos Let me know if you’re interested. There are a couple of other interesting product and marketing angles that we could jam on, and I might want to put some money in.
The Great Q& A Wars of 2009 ~ 2014 The major players are now Quora, StackOverflow, and Hunch..... Aardvark had about 40 bytes of information about me. They knew I was into startups, programming, and San Francisco. ....“everyone on the SO team works remotely from home” ..... dreaming about the company's problems at night, not talking at too many conferences, or doing other fake CEO stuff.
Magic in the software -- what the point and shoot camera industry needs I take pictures on my iphone using the Dropbox app. Pictures I take are immediately copied to all of my computers. .... There are a ton of apps that remain out of reach to point and shoots. ..... The magic is in the software.
Seven Major Websites that Send Passwords Unprotected, and State Sponsored Deep Packet Inspection Seven of the 36 sites I tested sent passwords in the clear, available for an Internet Service Provider to read. .... 50% of the Chinese websites I tested were offenders. .... There are well known, easily implementable techniques for securing passwords sent back to a server.
Technology to circumvent online copyright enforcement “Why it might become civil disobedience to serve up random data.” .... Any given copyrighted work could be expressed across 10 random-looking files.
How to Find and Hire Amazing People, Part 4
How to Find and Hire Amazing People, Part 3
How to Find and Hire Amazing People, Part 2
How to Find and Hire Amazing People, Part 1
My Startup Bootcamp Talk
How To Find A Market For Your New Company, Family Edition
How MIT Didn't Prepare Me For a Startup, Part 1
13 Ways Acting Classes Improved My Public Speaking Skillz
MIT Students Send Cameras Into Stratosphere, Very Cool!
Some Thoughts: the Online Backpacking Travel Industry




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