Google has expressed a desire to “modernize” email. Not only is this a change that nobody needs, but in fact the suggestion is downright dangerous. What Google has in mind is the expansion of its AMP framework to enable faster loading of mobile websites on Gmail, its own email service. The tech giant promises that this will mean “more engaging, interactive, and actionable email experiences” for us users – presumably Google intends to insert small applications directly into emails. For a wide range of different reasons this is a really crackpot idea. Devin Coldewey has comprehensively and conclusively demonstrated this at “TechCrunch” – if you have enough time and your English is up to the task, I can highly recommend taking the time to read through the whole article. For all others, here’s our little tl,dr (too long, didn’t read): Email is great just the way it is. It’s easy, based on open standards, works reliably on all platforms and doesn’t belong to any one company. What’s more, it consciously draws a dividing line between static messages and interactive websites and apps. Last, but not least, AMP is primarily an attempt by Google (Facebook has been making similar moves) to use its power on the market to gain more control over the contents of others and to keep folks within its own universe of services as far as possible. After all, that’s where the company sells and manages advertising. We should all do ourselves a big favor and leave email as it is* – with all its strengths and weaknesses. Google and Facebook are surely already big and powerful enough. *If you would like email to work even better for your company, don’t hesitate to take a quick look at our Retarus Cloud E-Mail Services.
Email is great just the way it is
Tags: Email // Email Security // Standards