Well Bill, some great comments above that you got. It might be interested to put some parameters on this "messaging" experience. I have several excellent messaging experiences but they are all so contextualized. I'll try to put a few of them here.
Gmail from the desktop browser (not mobile): it's great b/c I use all 4 of my accounts from here (1 gmail and 3 private addresses). it is so seamless to me. Much better than my previous experiences with other web mail clients. I love the conversation view of Gmail. I know you CAN do this w/ other clients, but the fact that it si defaulted and works so fluidly is great. B/c I rely so heavily on mobile email I have a HUGE complaint with Gmail. (this was the same from my iPHone as it is from my Treo) using either thick client. Gmail has a single mailbox paradigm where even "inbox" is really a label of tag on your conversations. What this means is that everything except for trash and spam are all accessed through the pop client that you have to use with the iPhone and other similar systems. This means that even if I say, "skip inbox" I still get it in pop. Or worse, I get every message I send!!!! as well. This is just not good and I often think about going back in time to a place where I didn't use Gmail just b/c of this issue. To be clear I had similar management annoyances w/ my blackberry as well. Further in all cases it is really hard to manage both my business and my personal emails together. Outlook (no one mentioned outlook) I have a love/hate relationship with outlook. For work context it is the best email client I have ever used. The melding of contacts, email, calendar, tasks, and notes is just right in my mind and the only comparable system is Notes which is biggest nightmare on the planet (IBM should be sued for continuing this product). RSS This is a messaging system to me. It doesn't message back, but it does message in and it is one of the best means of organizing all the content I get in my life. People talked about how Gmail allows them to use this list. Google Reader (my specific choice for RSS feed reading) is my secret weapon. I love the feeds and the way I can tag and organize and share feeds. A click and I'm at a web site (the out portion) and can type this lovely message to you all. desktop messaging I've been growingly using Twitter for direct short text messaging. I love that it can go to 3 different destinations at the same time or per the user's choice. I especially love doing directs to my list buddy Daniel Szuc who otherwise I could never afford to SMS considering he is in Hong Kong. But sometimes he gets it in the browser, in IM or in some custom app like Spaz. It is bad b/c it is stuck in the lame world of 140 character limits, which is quite limiting for someone who loves run-ons as much as I do. Instant Messaging in general is great and I use Meebo as my client du jour. Why? it is web based and goes past my corp firewall. That simple. Someone mentioned adium and I loved that. Mobile SMS iPhone just rocks. My treo tracked conversations as well and had the advantage of sending to multiple people, but I don't miss it as much as peter me does. Facebook is the newest messaging in my life and I Have to say I like it. I love status checking and I like the facebook mail for a lot of what I do now with my friends on facebook. It feels more relaxed. Again, I think you need to be more specific as to the following: context is this about usability, features, everything? -- dave -- David Malouf http://synapticburn.com/ http://ixda.org/ http://motorola.com/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
