I would like to add to your three points (no offline availability, requirement for trust, jurisdiction issues)
yet another three:
Backup. I case of GMail I may do backup with POP. In case of general web-desktop service I will not have such an opportunity. This is close to the concept of lacking `local cache'.
Permanence of service conditions. One may never be sure that the service he is using will remain available on the same conditions. I expect GMail to remain free, but I would not be amazed if any `no-cost' (or low-cost) web-desktop suddenly asks for some more compensation from me. They have my data. Why not?
Choice of environment. Now to change my computing environment I just need to copy my data and install appropriate software for the new environment. Even if I change an OS, it is not much a problem. I expect, it would not be so easy to move between remote web-desktops. Even further, I expect, that those desktop may discourage moving from web-desktop back to the traditional computing.
I belive, that there is still a lot of places in the world with neither e-mail nor fax. But one could send a telegram there. Is it easier now to communicate with those people?
For WU it is business optimization, for most of us it does not matter much, but to tell the truth, there seems to be less opportunity now.
OK. You convinced me. There is as much memory and as fast CPUs on modern phones like on computers of 90s. Yet, the screen resolutions are still comparable with those of computers of 80s:)
A small computer costs more than a big computer (more engineering challenges). So, Microsoft Phone with a keyboard jack will be either too expensive for developing contries, or will offer worse value/price when compared with really simple computers.
Yet, state of the art phones are really comparable with the home computers of 80s. But if those computers were sufficient for masses, then they would win the game with a better price of $5 or so:)
Laptop market is growing. And when I want to change my laptop, I shall definitely look for lighter/slimmer/longer-running/quieter piece of hardware, and performance/64bit will matter less.
So, whether I buy new MacBook or Intel Somethino (tm), it is likely to be Intel.
And I strongly suspect, that every laptop chip is today more profitable, than 5 desktops-for-sale.
Earlier SWsoft was playing on a thin age of GPL conformity. Custom modifications to the kernel to enable proprietary kernel modules to work were "GPLed", the real stuff was not (as far as I know). I am sure, OpenVZ was born under the external pressure of the customers, but in the same time, the company was preparing patents, and will certainly use them to squeeze money. So, for SWsoft it might be important to push `free' code into mainstream kernel, before GPLv3 arrives in its full power.
It's not a problem as far as they stick to standard protocols. In this case, you will just may use your favourite jabber client on your favourite platform. I vote for psi:)
Probably, a command to reformat/rewrap everything until the end of paragraph (empty line or the last line with no spaces in front) according to the width would suffice. Something like gq} in vim or Ctrl-L in some other e-mail clients (Evolution, Sylpheed, as I remember). TB already has Edit/rewrap, but it does not remove newlines.
Adding an extra option/setting may clutter an interface. This option might be hidden (anyway, it is for power users).
Mathematics, as a science and as an art, is not about yielding money for anyone, and true problems may have no solution, and the value of the solutions, if found, is not evident from a short-term perspecitve of the business. So, long live universities.
Though, being mathematically literate certainly allows to offer businesses something that would otherwise be impossible. This service should have the price, but this service is not mathematics, like a courier service is not a marathon.
I had occasional delays on some mbox files with approximately 5k messages. Usually, deleting *.msf files was helping for some time.
So, I guess, the problem was not the size itself, but the structure of the messages or some modifications to mbox files.
Yes, you hit the point: `pasting [plain] text which has line breaks from an external program can be problematic', and I expect built-in editor to be able to deal with it. I have no complains about wrapping in flowed mode.
Considerations about MS Word as an external editor are not quite convincing. I guess its purpose was not to offer a better editor, but to encourage people to produce e-mails readable only by means of MS Office.
The first time it wraps the message correctly. Yet, I need correct wrapping also when I edit a text which is already wrapped. Especially awkward is inserting text into the beginning of the big wrapped paragraph.
For example, I want to insert few words in a paragraph like this:
This is a sample wrapped paragraph I use as an example. It is really pointless and narrow.
What I get after inserting word `which' looks in TB like this:
This is a sample wrapped paragraph, WHICH I use as an example. It is really pointless and narrow.
Now, words `as an' hang on a separate line alone. It's ugly! And to fix this, I have to delete manually all endlines until the end of the paragraph and, optionally, rewrap it. I failed to get used to it:)
P.S. An external editor is the right thing, when I use mutt (and I really like it), but, IMHO, it is not the right thing for the mail client intended for a wide public.
Actually, I liked Thunderbird for a long time. What turned me off, is a poor plain-text editor. Users who choose to write plain text e-mails, deal with badly wrapped/unwrapped lines only. Evolution (with all its overbloat) yet does it well for me.
Low performance on large folders was another issue. I guess TB is getting better with respect to performance, but I do not see anything about editor in the release notes.
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For WU it is business optimization, for most of us it does not matter much, but to tell the truth, there seems to be less opportunity now.
ZX Spectrum: 256x192 (8 color bits per 8x8 square)
Commodore 64: 320x200 in HiRes mode
Apple II: 280x160 (according to http://oldcomputers.net/byteappleII.html)
Modern phone SonyEricssofn K608: 176x220 (256k colors) (http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/sonyeric sson/sonyericsson-k608-en.shtml)
Modern phone Nokia 3230: 176x208 (64k colors) (http://www.mobile-review.com/phonemodels/nokia/no kia-3230-en.shtml)
Screen resolutions are approximately the same. Sure, there are more colors now.
OK. You convinced me. There is as much memory and as fast CPUs on modern phones like on computers of 90s. Yet, the screen resolutions are still comparable with those of computers of 80s:)
Yet, state of the art phones are really comparable with the home computers of 80s. But if those computers were sufficient for masses, then they would win the game with a better price of $5 or so :)
Well, that probably means, that AMD has also a chance on laptop market. If it is as good as Intel or better, I shall not mind buying it.
So, whether I buy new MacBook or Intel Somethino (tm), it is likely to be Intel.
And I strongly suspect, that every laptop chip is today more profitable, than 5 desktops-for-sale.
Earlier SWsoft was playing on a thin age of GPL conformity. Custom modifications to the kernel to enable proprietary kernel modules to work were "GPLed", the real stuff was not (as far as I know). I am sure, OpenVZ was born under the external pressure of the customers, but in the same time, the company was preparing patents, and will certainly use them to squeeze money. So, for SWsoft it might be important to push `free' code into mainstream kernel, before GPLv3 arrives in its full power.
It's not a problem as far as they stick to standard protocols. In this case, you will just may use your favourite jabber client on your favourite platform. I vote for psi :)
Probably, a command to reformat/rewrap everything until the end of paragraph (empty line or the last line with no spaces in front) according to the width would suffice. Something like gq} in vim or Ctrl-L in some other e-mail clients (Evolution, Sylpheed, as I remember). TB already has Edit/rewrap, but it does not remove newlines.
Adding an extra option/setting may clutter an interface. This option might be hidden (anyway, it is for power users).
Mathematics, as a science and as an art, is not about yielding money for anyone, and true problems may have no solution, and the value of the solutions, if found, is not evident from a short-term perspecitve of the business. So, long live universities.
Though, being mathematically literate certainly allows to offer businesses something that would otherwise be impossible. This service should have the price, but this service is not mathematics, like a courier service is not a marathon.
I had occasional delays on some mbox files with approximately 5k messages. Usually, deleting *.msf files was helping for some time. So, I guess, the problem was not the size itself, but the structure of the messages or some modifications to mbox files.
Yes, you hit the point: `pasting [plain] text which has line breaks from an external program can be problematic', and I expect built-in editor to be able to deal with it. I have no complains about wrapping in flowed mode.
Considerations about MS Word as an external editor are not quite convincing. I guess its purpose was not to offer a better editor, but to encourage people to produce e-mails readable only by means of MS Office.
The first time it wraps the message correctly. Yet, I need correct wrapping also when I edit a text which is already wrapped. Especially awkward is inserting text into the beginning of the big wrapped paragraph.
For example, I want to insert few words in a paragraph like this:
What I get after inserting word `which' looks in TB like this:
Now, words `as an' hang on a separate line alone. It's ugly! And to fix this, I have to delete manually all endlines until the end of the paragraph and, optionally, rewrap it. I failed to get used to it :)
P.S. An external editor is the right thing, when I use mutt (and I really like it), but, IMHO, it is not the right thing for the mail client intended for a wide public.
Actually, I liked Thunderbird for a long time. What turned me off, is a poor plain-text editor. Users who choose to write plain text e-mails, deal with badly wrapped/unwrapped lines only. Evolution (with all its overbloat) yet does it well for me.
Low performance on large folders was another issue. I guess TB is getting better with respect to performance, but I do not see anything about editor in the release notes.