[Design] High End Email

[petite_abeille]

Interesting note by Jonathan Blocksom on "High End Email"

"I wonder if maybe next-generation open source email clients such as 
Chandler and Zoe aren't the way to go. There's an awful lot of people 
out there who are continually frustrated with the state of email 
clients today, both the free ones and the ones you have to pay for. 
Widely available free email clients address maybe 50 - 80% of our 
needs, which is enough to scare off the people who might try to make a 
living writing one that meets 95% of them.

I think perhaps there's a market for a high end email program. 
Something for people who spend two or three hours a day with their 
email and for whom it's vital that they manage it effectively. Why not 
write a fantastic email program, something with the capabilities of Zoe 
or Chandler but with a graceful, powerful user interface that doesn't 
throw out the baby with the bathwater by trying to be cross platform. 
People pay hundreds for those Franklin planners, I'd bet they'd pay 
$200 or more for a great email program -- if you can build it and then 
market it as such.

Along with this email program, by the way, should come world class 
support. Not just a mailing list and web forum but an email personal 
trainer. A real person who walks you through setting up the program for 
the first time, and who calls you once a week for the first few months 
to talk about how the program has been working for you and teaching you 
more of its features. Once you've settled in they'd send you a quick 
note every now and then to let you know about a new feature, tell you 
about a software update or new plug-in, or just find out if there's 
anything email-related they can help you with.

So once again: lets see someone address the market for people who live 
and die by the dozens or hundreds of messages they have to deal with 
every day. Developers spend $500 for just the basic Microsoft or 
Metrowerks developer tools, don't you think people who spend all day 
with their email instead of a compiler would be willing to do the same?"

http://www.gollygee.com/weblogs/jblocksom/2003/03/05.html#a138

Cheers,

PA.