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Yesterday Google announced a new labs feature in Gmail called Undo Send. Tech blogosphere was going gaga about it but I felt
that this new feature tells me that all the mails sent using gmail takes atleast
5 seconds to go out of their system. I just didn’t like it.
I do agree that that IMs and Microblogging services do a better job of
instant communications and email is old fashioned. However, email is still part
of the workflow for many people and a forced delay of 5 seconds, however small
it may be, is not good. When I send a mail out, I expect it to be sent out
immediately from my mail provider. It may take time for the packets to reach the
destination and the other mail provider may take a longer time to process the
mail, running it through their spam and virus filters. But, I want my mail
provider to send out the mail immediately without any delay on their side. A
forced delay is not the correct way to implement a feature.
While I was thinking about this, I came across a post by Zoho folks (Disclaimer: Zoho is the sponsor of this
blog but this is my personal opinion. BTW, my personal, professional and company
emails are on Google servers. So there is no hidden agenda here) where they
explain how they have implemented a similar feature. They are giving the option
of delay to the user rather than forcing it upon them. I feel that it is the
right way to implement a feature. Empowering the users so that they can decide
how they want to have it.
While we are at this topic, I want to point out to Zoli’s post on
the topic in his personal blog. He points out to a similar feature that has been existing for a
long time in Exchange
Undo Send is what Outlook has offered for ages: you can actually recall a
message that had already been sent, provided the recipient has not opened
it yet, and you’re both on Exchange. What Gmail offers now is a momentary delay
of 5 seconds, during which you may just realize you’re emailing the wrong Smith
or Brown, and hit the panic Undo button. It’s not really undo, since the message
was never sent in the first place – Gmail was holding it for 5 seconds, if you
had enabled this option.
Well, that was Microsoft’s way of adding a feature by intruding into the
personal space of users (in this case, their Inbox in Exchange). Google and
Zoho’s features are not intrusive in that sense but the implementation by
Google, as Zoli has also mentioned in his post, is not done well. I prefer
Zoho’s approach over Google in this one.
PS: My conclusion above about the forced delay is based on some unscientific tests I ran on domains hosted on Google servers. I would like to add a disclaimer that Google may not be forcing the delay on all users but it is just based on my trials.
It’s five seconds, you really think a 5 second pause is going to ruin your work day?
I was under the impression this lab feature created that 5 second gap.
I have received a reply within 10 seconds from gmail to gmail (ie i sent to someone who was waiting, received reply from them within that gap. I suspect that it is instant. Surely if it wasn’t someone would have blogged about it in the past.
Uh yeah… this is actually a “Google Labs” feature that you have to go into your settings and enable. Noone is forcing it upon you. So why don’t you go ahead and find the “undo post” button and delete this worthless blog entry
Steven, see my disclaimer about the unscientific tests I ran. Maybe, this feature is a cover up for the delay!! Just kidding.
Are you serious – 5 seconds is a lot of time to you when it comes to an email??? How quickly do your recipients take to open and respond to your emails? I think Gmail could increase the time delay to 60+ seconds and few would notice an adverse effect.
I think if you want ‘real time’ interaction you should stick to a phone or chat…Just my $0.02
It’s a cover-up alright, check this out:
http://www.2fatdads.com/2009/03/google-moves-towards-evil/
@schultzter, that’s good
something to whine about and try to make into a blog entry, eh? nothing to write about today? little cramp there? amount of time wasted reading your post (and actually responding!) makes 5 secs negligible. this is the biggest non-complaint i’ve heard in a long time. self-serving, “look at me” post! well, never again do visit. wait do i have 5 seconds to reneg this response??? i’m waiting half hour then.
I’m in disbelief along with most of the other posters here. Are you actually complaining about FIVE seconds on a feature you don’t have to enable in the first place? Seriously? Does nobody research anymore? Sheesh.
Just because a five second delay doesn’t mean anything for you doesn’t imply the same for others. Huh!!