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During the first dotcom bubble, @JWZ coined Zawinski& #39;s Law: "Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can." It& #39;s all three kinds of funny: funny ha-ha, funny strange, and funny serious.
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It& #39;s the software equivalent of carcinization, the tendency of every animal to eventually evolve into a crab. Crab& #39;s aren& #39;t the best animal, but they& #39;re the most versatile.
https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/121/1/200/3089703
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https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/121/1/200/3089703
2/">https://academic.oup.com/biolinnea...
Today in @XKCD, Randall Munroe updates Zawinski& #39;s Law with a strip called "Unread," in the way that mounting unread message counts eventually turn every instant messaging platform into email.
https://xkcd.com/2389/
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https://xkcd.com/2389/
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Switching from email to instant messaging can feel hugely liberating. There& #39;s the first-order effect, that most of the people whose email is a chore - mass-forwarders, bulk-CCers, favor beggers and passive-aggressive schmendricks - don& #39;t know how to reach you.
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Instead, your initial correspondents on a new service are apt to be close friends you give your new address to, along with a smattering of interesting strangers of the sort you& #39;ve been unable to engage with thanks to the time-vampires who& #39;d colonized your email inbox.
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That giddy moment quickly fades though, because you have stuff to do, and to do stuff, you have to engage with people. And then they& #39;ll engage with you. And you& #39;ll want to answer them, but sometimes you& #39;ll need to get other people in on the discussion to move things forward.
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You& #39;ll get messages on the go - during the honeymoon period, you can even turn on notifications again! - and then need to come back to them later (because you& #39;re on the go, and the messages are important).
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Then, one of two things happens: either you fall back to email or the IM tool gets CC, BCC, mark unread, search and bulk messaging.
Except that it& #39;s shitty email. It& #39;s email that& #39;s locked inside a social media company& #39;s walled garden, with only one client, not federated.
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Except that it& #39;s shitty email. It& #39;s email that& #39;s locked inside a social media company& #39;s walled garden, with only one client, not federated.
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This is why I do everything important by email. Not because I like email. I hate email. I, too, have experienced the giddy new relationship energy that comes from switching to an IM-based service!
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