What's the Point of Email Applications?

[AClockworkMelon]

@whc.03grady

So for the average person I’m dealing with here at this public library who doesn’t understand what the internet is and how it works (e.g., they’re completely thrown for a loop if their browser doesn’t open to some specific homepage they’re used to), the answer is “there is no point”.

There’s tons of shit that’s useless to people who don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. And?

[BigT]

Gah, you guys kill me. He’s trying to figure out whether it makes sense to install an email on a library computer for the public. And, no, it doesn’t.

And you can do multiple emails in pretty much any major webmail program. In fact, that’s exactly what I do. And, as far as I can tell, Gmail isn’t any slower than a native program, except possibly in loading (and if you aren’t talking about the resource hog that is Microsoft Outlook).

The local copy thing is a good reason, though. As would be the ease of use if you are using your email program for other purpose. But I would say the average user has no actual need for an email program to be installed. And, even if they did, the library should not be providing such.

[Revtim]

@UncleRojelio

1. I can access several email accounts in one place.
2. Filters

@sevenwood

This. I currently have three email accounts that I use frequently - one work account and two personal accounts. All three are available via either a web browser or via Outlook.

I suppose I could wander through three separate browser applications to see if I have any emails pending, but it’s a lot easier to just open up my Outlook application. (Or do as my wife does, and just keep her Outlook application open all of the time.)

My cell phone and my tablet both came with an “email” app that also accesses all three accounts.

FYI, most web-based email I’ve used also provides access to multiple accounts. My Gmail accesses at least three accounts, maybe more.

[AClockworkMelon]

@BigT

Gah, you guys kill me. He’s trying to figure out whether it makes sense to install an email on a library computer for the public. And, no, it doesn’t.

Reading the post I quoted again it’s clear that that’s the case. Pretend my tone was two notches lower than it actually was.

[robert_columbia]

@aruvqan

I remember being on dial up, and detested webmail - it went open webmail, click on email you want to read, go get a fresh water or something while waiting for it to open. Literally it would take 5 minutes to get an email opened and ready to read. If I did the down load bit, I could download while I was at work, then putz around with all my email and upload the responses and go to bed, and have it download while I was asleep.

I also used to do research with a bot, I would set it up and go to bed, or off to work and come back to a list of hits to go through.

This.

Standalone email applications/clients give you faster performance and a much greater ability to work offline. If you are using webmail, you have to do everything online and if your connection fails or gets slow, you’re out of luck and can’t open any more messages, save a draft, edit your contacts list, or really do anything. If you use a client like Outlook, Eudora, or Pine (who remembers this?), you can download all your mail in the morning, disconnect from the Internet, take your computer into the woods and read and respond to email all morning, then reconnect to the net over lunch to send all the responses you wrote that day and download new messages received since you were last connected.

Also, standalone clients can give you more choice and let you pick the tools that have the features you need or want.

[Claverhouse]

@BigT

Gah, you guys kill me. He’s trying to figure out whether it makes sense to install an email on a library computer for the public.

Why would you think that ? He makes no such statement, either in the OP or later.

[ Besides which it would be impossible, since one can’t install a separate application for each individual user in a public library and neither could users share an email app — plus the legal consequences of storing patrons’ private data would be awe-inspiring. ]
[ You might even be liable to render those emails unto Caesar… ]

[DrCube]

I think the question has been answered, but I just want to say that from my perspective it is asked backwards.

Email has been around in various incarnations for over 40 years. The web is only about half that old. The World Wide Web and Email are both applications that run over the internet. Webmail is a bastardization that came later.

So the real question is “What’s the point of webmail?” And the answer is, basically, “public libraries and internet cafes”. That, and quickly checking your mail on a friend’s computer. If you have your own machine, standalone email clients are better in every way.

[GusNSpot]

Anyone remember the malware that used to come with systems that automatically downloaded all email to your computer.

Do you all have perfect protection programs? What is it called, I want one.

I do not need or use a business account so all the mixing & matching does not apply to me. If your company IT department has to fix all the problems & it is all supplied by the company, you are lucky.

Email that I can decide to down load or not is best for me. If it does not come to my machine, it can’t mess with it.

YMMV

[Canadjun]

@GusNSpot

Anyone remember the malware that used to come with systems that automatically downloaded all email to your computer.

Do you all have perfect protection programs? What is it called, I want one.

I do not need or use a business account so all the mixing & matching does not apply to me. If your company IT department has to fix all the problems & it is all supplied by the company, you are lucky.

Email that I can decide to down load or not is best for me. If it does not come to my machine, it can’t mess with it.

YMMV

You can also pick up crap from web-based systems. You get the crap when you view the message or (more likely) open the rogue attachments that come along with the message. That happens both on web-based and on local e-mail systems. For local e-mail programs the messages are just downloaded as a bunch of headers identifying the message and an uninterpreted blob of data. It’s up to you to then decide whether to read the messages, and if so you need to take the exact same precautions you would take on a web-based system.

[Mister_Rik]

I have my own domain names (mister-rik.com and phase42.net), and all of my primary e-mail addresses are linked to those domain names. And my domains are hosted by a dedicated hosting company, not my ISP, so remain parked where they are regardless of which ISP I’m using.

So I use a dedicated e-mail client. In my case, it’s PowerMail, a Mac-only client that I’ve been using for 10+ years now. I chose it specifically because it’s a plain-text-only client, but still loaded with powerful features.

I do use Gmail as well, but mainly for the types of communication that I prefer to keep separate from my real name and my regular online persona.

[Amateur_Barbarian]

@DrCube

ISo the real question is “What’s the point of webmail?” And the answer is, basically, “public libraries and internet cafes”. That, and quickly checking your mail on a friend’s computer. If you have your own machine, standalone email clients are better in every way.

Well put.

The crowd that came along with browsers and doesn’t understand the difference between local apps and data and things they see through a browser is alway good for a laugh… or a deep headache when they question the non-browser world.

[KneadToKnow]

@Telemark

Outlook can store all your messages on your local machine, so you have personal copies of everything.

A good enough reason all on its own:

Google deletes last 7 years of user’s digital life, shrugs