Where do you see E-mail goin in the next 5 years?

[Albion]

This is an issue that I have been mulling over for quite some time. With the HUGE increase in E-Mail spam do you think people are going to get sick of it and just stop using it all together in exchange for something like instant messaging? And with yesterdays problems; HIMAIL getting into many systems before any of the AV firms even had a signature (Infection rate doubled every 8.3 seconds), where is the confidence level in e-mail going?

Personally I don't even use e-mail anymore except to sign up for web pages and check for lost passwords. It's to much of a hastle to sort through 200 e-mail a day to find something important just because me or someone I know accidently gave it out on some obscure usenet group 3 years ago and it's still in the archive at Google Groups. How long will it be before more people think the same way?

The real question is, is it possible to create an upgrade to SMTP that will be trusted and accepted by the masses, which can stop the problem with spam (Spoofing from:, schrouding the HTML code, etc...) and e-mail viruses?

-Craig

 

[Dimandja]

is it possible to create an upgrade to SMTP...?

Of course. But why?

Hey, look, there is nothing inherently wrong with SMTP. But, there is wrong in how it is used - human nature.

I think the biggest problem facing these modern days is there is a lot of science and virtually no philosophy.

Technology has so overtaken us that few IT types can find their way out of a brown bag if you asked them how their virtuoso software will affect society.

There used to be serious philosophical debates and essays about everything from art to medecine. Alas, this is a lost art, I am afraid.

Dimandja

Dimandja

 

[jwenting]

philosophy is nice to figure out how it SHOULD be used, tech tells you how it COULD be used.

As spammers and crackers couldn't care less about the philosophy of the internet (free exchange of useful data between friendly people) tech is needed to combat them.

Despite me being philosophical about email (I philosophically want only email that is sent to me by friends and people I specifically have dealings with) the spammers couldn't care less and still send me some 200-400 messages a day I quite philosophically use to train my spamfilters.

 

[dyarwood]

On the subject of this as with Instant Messaging you have a friends list. Surely there can be something like that with email. There probably is but and spammers still would find a way round it but might stop some things.

 

[oharab]

most anti-spam packages have whitelists that will always allow the sender to get through, along with blacklists that will always block it.
I use mailwasher & rarely get spam in my inbox as it is all deleted from the server before it gets there.
The only thing with it, is it's not totally automated. would be nice to have some sort of local pop server so that white listed mails are automatically downloaded & available for Outlook, blacklisted ones are automatically deleted from the server & unknowns are listed for user decision.
I think there is little you can do to stop major spammers. as has been pointed out, if they are legislated against, they will move to a place where they can.
All we can do is protect ourselves accordingly. It's a shame, but I can't see what BG et'all can do!

Ben

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Ben O'Hara

http://www.RobotParade.co.uk

"Where are all the stupid people from...
...And how'd they get so dumb?"

NoFX-The Decline
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[Dimandja]

To clarify, my reference to philosophy here has to do the type of moral dilemmas that scientists that created big weapons (notice how I avoid using the A word) had to come to grips with.

It's a matter of thinking before doing. Once the cat is out of the bag, there is no amount of philosophying tthat will put it back in.

To wrap up, I'm saying that we need to think hard before introducing those new dazzling gizmos into society. Sure, many of those gadgets are useful, but they also change our lives for ever.

Dimandja

 

[Kruppcon]

There will always be a place for spam, even if it doesnt come through email. Now that mobile phones are capable of receiving text messages, companies are beginning to spam mobile phones with advertisements.

On top of that, as location based services become more prominent, you may be bombarded with coffee ads as you walk past Starbucks, or food ads when you walk past the grocery store.

SPAM may just move to another medium.

Bryan
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KruppCon -

http://www.Kruppcon.com

 

[AnanthaP]

Spam you can delete and filter or prioritise the needed ones.

The future of e-mail may have focus on:
(1) Importance to hierarchial directory services for classifying mail,
(2) Context based - "threadminders" (like tek-tips!),
(3) Archival services (fee based).

End