The twittersphere and the internet are all buzzing with the news that Gmail has added a preview pane, learning from tablets. An article circulated from Twitter calls it “heart-warming” and “exciting” and says it will make Gmail “more awesome than ever”. Google for “preview pane gmail” and you’ll not find any shortage of articles.
Excuse me, because I don’t use Gmail. I’ve never used Gmail. I use a mail product that the internet shouts about “legacy”, “dead”, and many more derogatory epithets. You may have heard of it if you’ve been in IT for a while. It’s called Lotus Notes. It also has a web client, though I’d understand these people not having looked at it. Is it “Domino Web Access” or “iNotes”? And then there’s the confusion between “LotusLive iNotes” and “iNotes”. It’s rarely described by analysts as “exciting”, probably never as “awesome”, but here’s the rub.
It’s already got a preview pane. It’s had a preview pane for ages. Ever since Domino 8.0 in fact, although that was only on the bottom of the window. Just for those disbelievers, here’s the “What’s New in Domino Web Access 8” technote to prove it. And it had a preview pane on the side since 8.5 two years ago. Here’s an article with a screenshot just to prove it. But for anyone not using Full Mode, iNotes also has a preview pane in Light Mode, although again that’s just on the bottom. Look at Figure 13 on this post about improvements in Lite Mode, again, over two years old.
So why is this causing such a stir. Perhaps because it’s been marketed that way?
No, just because it’s being marketed at all.
Shhh don’t tell anyone, notes stole that layout from Outlook.
Shhh, and outlook stole it form cc:Mail. Anybody remembering it?
@Erik Yes, it is an object lesson in successful marketing, even of a non-feature.
@Carl, @Feri That shows how late to the party Gmail are, and yet they can still cause a stir on the web by their launch tactics, as shown a few weeks ago by Google+. That’s social business.