Re: Webmail is implementation, not Internet architecture (was Re: Change the mailing list protocol, not DMARC.)

[Phillip Hallam-Baker <[e-mail]>]

On Sat, Jun 14, 2014 at 10:40 AM, Miles Fidelman <[e-mail]
> wrote:

> Phillip Hallam-Baker wrote:
>
>>
>> It is the mode used by the majority of mail users today. Which makes it
>> rather more than just technology from a deployment point of view.
>>
>
> That's almost certainly not true, or it's certainly highly questionable.
>
> Two words:
> 1. Outlook
> 2. Smartphones


Well it all depends on whether you measure users or uses. People who use
mail a lot are more likely to use a dedicated client.

But from a deployment point of view smartphones are and always will be
limited lifetime devices because of their mode of use. If Apple adds a new
feature today, 90% of the Apple smartphones in regular use will support it
in three years. Because even if development of phones stops, any device you
carry with you every day is going to see a lot of wear and tear.


But even taking this as a given, it seems that every time that I go to a
blog with a comments form on using my iPhone the provider is trying to push
a 'stream reader' app at me. It might be that these people will only push a
proprietary app but I think it likely that they would be interested in an
open standard if one was on offer.


You may be right of course that change is impossible, it is certainly
difficult. But it does have a better chance of achieving the desired goal
of a decent discussion mechanism that supports the desired capabilities,
access modes, etc. than sitting in the sea and bidding the DMARC tide turn.