Mark Zuckerberg’s press conference that was held last evening was probably the most talked in the web circles. It was speculated that Facebook would rival Google, Yahoo and Microsoft with an email venture. What turned up in the event was rather surprising – we expected an announcement of a gmail killer.
Facebook will launch a new age email service which will be quite different from the traditional one. The system is closely related the a chat system, where people send messages to one another without any addendums. The new mail system will not feature a subject field, CC field and obviously the BCC field will remain absent. So, in effect, this email system will have a TO field where one feeds the complete email address, and a body field. There are three preset folders – one from friends (through Facebook), one where you store your other mails from contacts outside Facebook and the third one is a junk mailbox.
The Facebook boss feels that the learning curve for this new mail system is long, and the acceptance might take longer. It may take a decade or two for this mail system to reach the masses. He feels that the system we have currently is slow, and isn’t user friendly.
I always felt that Mark preferred to have a level playing field with his competitors. But, in this case, it looks like he has created his own level, and in the process, has chosen a level way below the existing one. With this solution, he possibly cannot change the nature of messaging – just for the mere reason that the fields that existing in traditional email exist because people see a use for it, and some of us cannot fathom with the idea of not having a CC and a Subject field.
On the contrary, students and others who live off of their facebooks may jump into it instantaneously. But, once they move into real jobs, it is the traditional email that will rule the roost.
If you are using @facebook.com email service, expect plenty of spam mails. Your profile’s name is public, which basically translates into email address, and is an easy pick for spammers.
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