Microsoft Looks At Integrating Forums and E-mail

prostoalex writes "Scott Hanselman shares a document from Microsoft Research internal Web site on Gina Venolia's latest research in user interface design. Since half of the e-mail conversations require reply and then further replies, the model is not too different from current Web forums. Future Outlook versions might integrate the nested interface for e-mail conversations." Gotta say, that'd be pretty nice to have.

Why has this taken so long?

[ChaoticChaos]

/. ran a story about this very thing from IBM's R&D who also came to the same conclusion.

Honestly, it's hard to believe that it took PHD "rocket scientists" to come to the conclusion that email is probably better interfaced as a forum. We've all known that for years. It's also hard to understand why there aren't "big name" email clients that already support that kind of interface.

Thinking of Microsoft's offering in this area, it would be nice if they automatically emailed the author of the worm that ravaged your system so you could conduct a forum-interfaced conversation with the person. Kinda like an auto-Friendster between worm-authors and worm-targets. ;-)

This way...

[Lane.exe]

You can pinpoint exactly where in the conversation the worm came in!

It's all about trusted computing, people.

yay

[pardasaniman]

Now we can spend minutes loading chain emails with 1mb activex controls, and several viruses all at once.

Microsoft: Where will u be able to go today?
Apple: Where will u go while we distract you with random graphics?
Linux: How will u go where you want today?

More Innovation!

[Elladan]

Wow, next thing you know, they'll be inventing the command line!

I mean, just imagine... You could control a computer just by typing in text, almost like language! None of those bizarre manhandling a carpal tunnel creating mouse all day to point at primitive representations on the screen!

Er, oh wait. They are.

Why is it that whenever Microsoft "invents" something that everyone else has had for decades, it's "big news" and "innovation" ?

Kudos

[mabu]

Kudos to Microsoft for once again being on the cutting edge of copying 20-year old technology.

I hear next month they'll be introducing a text-only browser called MS-Hedgehog.

Errrrrrr......No.

[Bowie J. Poag]

90% of my car trips involve buying something. Doesn't mean I want a cash-register in my car.

Oooh!

[Greyfox]

After millions of dollars of research, Microsoft "innovates" the web-cached listserve that's been around for years. I bet they patent it, too.

To give them credit though, their interface draws lines between the messages for the thread, which none of the primative web-cached listserves do. Obviously this advance in user-friendliness justifies the research dollars put into the effort.

Outlook Forum

[Dark Lord Seth]

Automatic "Standard reply" button included with the following options:

• AOL reply: "me too!!!" with random capital letters.
• Goth angst reply: 4 page poem describing death, decay and entropy on a personal level. Ends with "me too!!!" with random capital letters.
• Teen angst reply: 4 page essay on how best friend's sister-in-law got pregnant from a 66 year old bum, End with "me too!!!" with random capital letters.
• MS developer reply: 40 page EULA which basically means MS owns your house, car, soul and first born, ends with "me too!!!" with random capital letters.
• Overclocker reply: 20 page essay on why your Outlook is faster because you changed the default desktop theme. Ends with "me too!!!" with random capital letters.
• Script kiddie reply: Automagically hacks all Outlook apps on other computers using the forum, displays "me too!!!" with random capital letters in an endless popup loop.
• Linux/Mac user reply: Formats HD, overheats CPU and lists you with the dept of HS as potential communistic terrorist involved with drug cartels. Automaticallly posts a flame claiming Linux is a travestite and RMS's beard is made out of pubic hair.

Re:Why has this taken so long?

[ChaoticChaos]

Thank you! Finally, someone clarified the issue. It's amazing how many people are waving the Usenet flag around in this thread and that is an apples and oranges comparison.

A butt is a terrible place to store a head.

Re:Uhm...

[bigberk]

X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0)

<html>
what is an useenet? could u pleaze email me your answer i dont read answers here
</html>

>It will be "innovation" if this new
>USENET, err I meant Mail Forums, will
>eliminate the top posting bastards that
>usually have an OUTLOOK mailer
>header...

Re:yay

[Dalcius]

Not mine, but a goodie:

Microsoft: Where do you want to go today?
Apple: Where do you want to go tomorrow?
Linux: Are you guys coming or what?!

Re:yay

[TotallyUseless]

Microsoft: Let's go in my Honda today.
Apple: Let's go in my BMW.
Linux: Hey guy's! I built my own car!

Re:Why has this taken so long?

[QNX]

Nah, not even close. Usenet is a free-for-all public discussion. Email exchange is an invitation-only private discussion. Big difference

Nah, not even close. Email exchange is a free-for-all spam me public discussion. Big difference.

Re:Bingo!

[GeckoX]

Yeah, that's what we need, anonymous cowards moderating our own inbox ;)

Re:Uhm...

[joe_bruin]

me too

• -----Original Message-----
• 
  From: bigberk (547360)
  Sent: Monday December 22, @09:12AM
  To: All
  Subject: Re:Uhm...
  
  X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0)
  
  <html>
  what is an useenet? could u pleaze email me your answer i dont read answers here
  </html>
  
  >It will be "innovation" if this new
  >USENET, err I meant Mail Forums, will
  >eliminate the top posting bastards that
  >usually have an OUTLOOK mailer
  >header...
  

Re:Responding piecemeal is trivially easy.

[Xerithane]

You know, I completely agree with you.

It simply requires people to stop that horribly moronic "top-posting" style of response.

If I want to respond piecemeal to an email, the only sane way to do it is to write my responses in between your paragraphs. As responses accumulate, back and forth, other readers see an easy-to-read flow of conversation. And "other readers" will include myself, reading old mail weeks/months/years after the fact.

Trying to respond point-by-point while keeping all of your text preceeding the other person's text is hopeless. And fucking stupid to boot. English reads down the page, you top-posting mouth-breathing idiots, not "scroll all the way to the bottom, scroll up a bit, read the paragraph downwards, scroll upwards over it, read the response downwards until you get to the previous text, scroll back upwards again, lather, rinse, repeat, until eventually you get to the top." I call for the painful tortuous death of whichever "human interface engineer" thought this would ever be a good idea and made it the default mode of GUI mailers.

Re:Why has this taken so long?

[Kent Recal]

Me too.