Ask HN: Can’t we define a new e-mail standard with Facebook’s features?

9 points·3rd3··8 comments

Features like groups, events, pinwalls, photo albums, likes, friends/contacts but also collaborative editing, versioning, chatting channels and voting come to mind.

I’m wondering what are the hurdles to define such an "e-mail 2.0" standard.

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I think before we define a _new_ email standard, that there should be an email standard in the first place. So many clients treat email differently:

* quote levels increasing or not

* how to format the date of the previous message

* whether or not you attach the original files when replying

* how to format the headers signatures of the emails

* where attachments are, i.e. inline or as an extra

* read receipts

on and on.

Tried and failed, unfortunately: http://support.google.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=108...

Groups: You can create a "group" with regular e-mail using a mailing list.

Events: Many corporate e-mail systems (e.g., Outlook) already have a meeting invitation function (accept, reject, reschedule, see people's free time slots, etc.).

Pinwalls, photo albums, likes, friends: If I really wanted those integrated into my e-mail workflow, I'd be a Facebook user. Why should they be part of regular e-mail?

Once you've added all those features, don't you really have a Facebook clone rather than an e-mail system?

Can you explain in more detail?

It'll be like the email everyone knows and loves, but social!

Isn't email inherently social?

I'm working on that. The standard API is currently being designed.

https://tent.io/ ?

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