it feels like there’s an arms war going on surrounding email apps. which one is best? which has the most features? which will help you reach inbox zero? one of the latest—and most hyped—entrants into the email app arena is mailbox app.

but to me, it seems like we’re fighting the wrong kind of war. the reason so many people feel inundated by email is because we’re not using it for the right reasons. i wrote about this before.

why do people hoard emails and keep 400 of them in their inbox? why do we have overly complicated tree structures of file folders in our desktop mail applications when you need lewis and clark or holmes and watson to help you find anything once you put it there?

we’ve been using email as a means of passing and storing information for way too long, and it just doesn’t make sense. at work, files and information belong in a shared, open environment, not to be stashed away and hidden in some ridiculously named folder like “stacy” or “jim”. at home, personal email either needs to be saved (website registration information… something else?) or deleted. there is no in between.

we don’t need another mailbox app. we need to rethink the way we use email.