• JaymesRS@literature.cafe
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    1 month ago

    I’m guessing you meant this sarcastically, but you may have been right for the wrong reasons. Look at this graph, by the metric of the way the fediverse works that is a failure. Apple and Google are massively dominant because people don’t want to think about it and most just go with their phone os maker who makes them create one when setting it up, and there is no fediverse server equivalent to that.

    a graph of email users by domain. apple and gmail dominate.

    • Zak@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      This looks like it’s conflating service providers and clients. Thunderbird doesn’t provide email accounts to the public as far as I know.

    • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 month ago

      Nevertheless email stays the defacto standard for business communication and has stayed intercompatible with a wide range of clients, servers and plugins. So this graph could be better but is apparently not a big issue as long as companies and unis keep running their own servers, forcing big tech to stay with the standards.

      • JaymesRS@literature.cafe
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        1 month ago

        That works when the decentralized protocol is the 800 lb gorilla first. You can’t get there with the fediverse in this internet era, sadly.

        Email also doesn’t have a moderation factor that requires emotional work.

        • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 month ago

          The matrix protocol is a good example to prove you wrong. It has been popularized in the past 5-6 years (i.e. this era of the internet) it has well over 100 million users and growing, is being used in hundreds of universities and wont stop growing, is being used by government bodies all over the world and has unified most of the software dev landscape into one protocol. Its hard fucking work and you have to start with exactly those groups which are easier to convince and then you can move on to the average consumer. Thats how email did it and thats how matrix will do it.

      • hobovision@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        I’m pretty sure “apple mail” refers to the Mail app on iPhones and Macs, not the email address. There’s probably tons of people using Gmail addresses with the Apple Mail app.

      • Jupiter Rowland@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Nobody really actively chooses Apple Mail.

        It’s just that they buy iPhones, and they want a total no-brainer, like, a phone that’s fully set up and ready to use without them having to do anything because it, like, totally confuzzles them 'n stuff. So whichever friendly salesperson sells them their phone also sets everything up for them. Including an e-mail account because they need one for their Apple account, but they don’t know if they’ve got one.

        If they buy an Android phone, it’s the same, only that they get a Gmail account if they don’t happen to already have one.

    • illi@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      So you are saying Mastodon won’t take off because people need to choose a server but also because having a “default” where majority will ptobably end up is bad - but this is literally the solution to the problem you mentioned

      • med@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        It’s the solution on the user experience side, but not the backend/server side. For both infrastructure and idealogical reasons. These two things don’t have to be the same.

        Disney parks wants park visitors to feel like their exploring, but design in such a way that thepy don’t actually stray that far from the preferred paths. Also they have clear sign posting.

        There’s no reason the fediverse can’t design the opposite. Helping users into feeling like there’s a set path, and that they’re doing the right thing, while subtly encouraging exploration.

        It’s just the opposite of where all talent and techniques of internet software design are right now, so it’s going to take some work.

        Edit: Most people don’t jump into a hedge to get off the main road, they find a small, unplanned trail or desire path, then learn to navigate the jungle when that path ends.

    • Jupiter Rowland@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      Still, this chart looks like it’s actually counting phone apps rather than providers. Google doesn’t have two separate e-mail services AFAIK.