End of classical interface

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

If the problem is so bad that javascript had to be scraped (highly unlikely), everyone is going to have to completely rewrite their sites.

You mean like the sites which are now trying to rewrite their code to avoid FLASH and all its problems?

[Bamb0]

Originally Posted by joe_devore

yup

two things I like about the classic UI:
1 - constant view-able folder #s (new/total)
2 - empty link next to the trash folder
etc
I hope they will bring back those two features I rely on daily before they retire the Classic UI in June this year...

Its just so sad ya know Joe???

If more ppl cared about others maybe these companies wouldnt think they can do this........ If more ppl used the classic UI once in awhile then fastmail will still see alot of activity on it...... Or if everyone said they were gonna LEAVE FASTMAIL (Even paid members) if they did this maybe they would think twice about it!!

[joe_devore]

Originally Posted by Bamb0

Its just so sad ya know Joe???

If more ppl cared about others maybe these companies wouldn't think they can do this........ If more ppl used the classic UI once in awhile then fastmail will still see alot of activity on it...... Or if everyone said they were gonna LEAVE FASTMAIL (Even paid members) if they did this maybe they would think twice about it!!

yup I will continue to use Classic UI every day till they retire it in June...

[Grhm]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

What other devices do you have? You say "it refuses to work on all your device."

Read it again. I said it refuses to work at all on my device. Device. Singular. I just have this 4-year-old Nokia C2-01 that I am using now to post this. That's all I have. We're not all overpaid, out-of-touch IT professionals with houses full of pointlessly expensive gadgets.

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

Seriously, did you regularly access the classical interface on that little tiny screen? Was it *really* possible to use that to read email with the web interface?

I'm not sure I like your tone, but, yes, I did, I do, and I will continue to as long as the Classic interface exists. It is a perfectly satisfactory way of doing things. As I explained previously in this thread,

Originally Posted by Grhm

I have a Nokia C2-01, which has its own Symbian browser, and I also have Opera Mini installed.
I have the most up-to-date versions of both browsers.
Nearly all web-sites work fine on one or the other, or both, including Amazon, Paypal, Discogs, this forum and Fastmail Classic.
It's only this blasted new interface that snootily refuses to co-operate.

and

Originally Posted by Grhm

Apart from the problem with Fastmail I'm perfectly happy with this little C2-01. It does everything I want. I don't need or want a computer or an expensive, complicated new phone that I can't work and don't understand.

Also, the C2-01 has a proper, dependable, physical keypad, so I don't have to faff about endlessly with one of those bloody awful hit-and-miss touch-screen affairs.

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

Symbian was abandoned in 2014 your platform has not been developed for in 3 years. Fastmail can't possibly keep support for all outdated devices.

Originally Posted by sflorack

Symbian is a discontinued OS.. As it's no longer being supported by it's own developer, how long do you suppose third party sites/applications should support it?

How long should Symbian be supported? Indefinitely. Symbian is stable, reliable, well-thought-out, compact, unpretentious and easy to use, and it still works fine. It has only been officially 'discontinued' because Microsoft bought Nokia and wanted to impose their own ghastly, bloated, impossible-to-understand 'Windows Phone' nonsense on everybody.
Symbian has worked perfectly well up until now, and it continues to work perfectly well today; and if people like you weren't constantly fixing things that aren't broken, and demanding change for the sake of change, there's no earthly reason why it shouldn't continue to work perfectly well indefinitely.
[Edit: And in any case it isn't support for Symbian that Fastmail needs to maintain, it's support for the web protocol that Symbian-based browsers use. A much less onorous task, surely?]
Technology is not a force of nature, but a human creation. It exists to serve us, not the other way round.

[ChinaLamb]

Originally Posted by Grhm

Read it again. I said it refuses to work at all on my device. Device. Singular. I just have this 4-year-old Nokia C2-01 that I am using now to post this. That's all I have. We're not all overpaid, out-of-touch IT professionals with houses full of pointlessly expensive gadgets.

.again strikes Dyslexia oops. I swear I read that four times the other way round...

Grhm, I really wasn't trying to be snarky with any of my comments. As you can see, I have problems reading even with larger displays. I can't comprehend someone reading email on such a small screen. It was an honest question.

Believe me, I'm no overpaid IT professional. I gave up my job many years ago and served overseas for 12 years. Now I work with a non-profit. I buy phones that are a model or two behind the latest ones coming out, and I have all second-hand computers.

Originally Posted by Grhm

and if people like you weren't constantly fixing things that aren't broken, and demanding change for the sake of change, there's no earthly reason why it shouldn't continue to work perfectly well indefinitely.

Grhm, I really wasn't striking a tone in my post, it was all honest questions, since I really have to have a big screen. My phone is 5.6 inch. If you really have to know, people like me are trying to help people out of addiction and poverty. The only change I'm demanding is that we we all slow down a little bit to be able to help those who have been less fortunate, or have fallen prey to various forms of injustice.

I like some forms of change, but I also hate that technology makes many things obsolete in a matter of years. Why do you think they are making non-interchangeable batteries? At the same time, I also realize that there are more and more vulnerabilities out there. And Tech companies have to change constantly to keep ahead of the bad guys - in order to keep our data safe.

I work with people in a very high risk region in Asia. Security is extremely important. That's why I chose fastmail, because for anyone to get access to my data, they have to go through the legal system in Australia. Not easy. Not easy at all. It protects me, and more importantly, it protects the people we are desperately trying to help escape their circumstances.

At a certain point, I also recognize that I'm going to have to keep upgrading my devices. Change happens, and I can't fight it. There's no express evil malicious intent (except for with Microsoft, perhaps But when it comes down to it, all of us are trying to just do our jobs, and hopefully put our kids through college.

The people at Fastmail are just trying to make a living, and they need to put their kids through college too. I don't think Fastmail is trying to change things for change sake, they're trying to keep the company moving, and make it attractive to some paying customers who can help them keep the lights on. I loved the classic interface, but I also admit, it's not an interface that can compete with the other services out there. Fastmail is just trying to make sure they can attract customers so they can continue to put food on their family's tables too.

So they had to update the interface. In the process, it became harder and harder to maintain the older interface, and things became incompatible between the two. Fastmail isn't big like Microsoft, they cannot afford to spend their resources on too many things. It got too expensive to do both the old and the new. If you look at the number of paying customers they have, and do the math, no one is becoming a millionaire at Fastmail. No one is retiring rich and buying a yacht. They could have taken it easy for a while after they were bought out, but what did they do? They spent their own money to buy the company back. Honestly, these are good people. They aren't trying to make anybody's life difficult, and I don't think any of them are overpaid IT people. They do a lot on a shoestring, compared to most other companies.

I'm sorry it's not working on your device.

[chickadee]

Once again, Grhm, you impress with your eloquence. Should you ever run for President--er, Prime Minister--you'll have my vote.

[Grhm]

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

I like some forms of change, but I also hate that technology makes many things obsolete in a matter of years.

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

At a certain point, I also recognize that I'm going to have to keep upgrading my devices.
Change happens, and I can't fight it.

You make several excellent points, and it sounds as if you are doing some enormously valuable and difficult work.
I apologise for taking out my frustrations on you, and I wish you the very best of luck in your endeavours.

As for me, I'm now pretty much resigned to the fact that I will have to get myself a new phone, and that (much as I dislike them) it will have to be one of those huge, power-hungry, touch-screen things.
I'm wondering if I could possibly afford one of these:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairphone_2

Originally Posted by chickadee

Should you ever run for President--er, Prime Minister--you'll have my vote.

Dear God, no!
It's that kind of thinking that's got your country into the mess it is in today!
Vote for someone who knows what they are doing, for goodness sake!

[Jerry]

I wonder if the FASTMAIL gurus have considered the possibility of continuing the CLASSIC interface with fewer "crossties" to its full-featured NEW interface.

They've already removed access to a few features in the CLASSIC interface (i.e. access to the Sieve Script) because it was too difficult to keep upgrading the CLASSIC when they added or tweaked features in the NEW interface. Perhaps they could keep an even more stripped down version of CLASSIC for those who like/need simple, low bandwidth, no javascript access to their mail.

Another email provider I know gives users a choice of three (commercial) interfaces: Horde v5, Horde v3, and RoundCube v1. Further, the Horde interfaces have multiple display options: Basic, Dynamic, SmartPhone/Tablet, Mobile, and NoJavaScript. It appears to me that each interface is accessing the email server via IMAP as if one were using a local computer's email client.

All the interfaces seem to operate in their own worlds; they all have access to your email folders, but there's no common Address Book or Calendar. You'll want to pick your interface before loading up those features with your data. Features that must be common amongst all interfaces, like your password, are accessed through a separate "User Control Panel."

FASTMAIL might even bring back a stripped down version of its OLD (original) HTML-only interface which used no graphics at all. Bandwidth-challenged users could use OLD or CLASSIC interfaces for their everyday email access, but if they needed one of the newer features (like updating one's Sieve Script) they would have to do it through a full-featured modern computer which could deal with Fastmail's bloated NEW interface.

Just a thought.

[Grhm]

... and a most excellent thought it is too.
I wholeheartedly endorse Jerry's proposal.

[chickadee]

Stunningly brilliant proposal, Jerry.

(So help me, Jerry, every time I see your location--Hollywood, CA--I wonder, Do you have the stage name "Lewis"? That is, I think, Are you Joseph Levitch? Of course, I realize you're almost certainly not, but I can't help but wonder.)

[Bamb0]

Originally Posted by Jerry

I wonder if the FASTMAIL gurus have considered the possibility of continuing the CLASSIC interface with fewer "crossties" to its full-featured NEW interface.

I would LOVE that! (Even if Brong wanted me to start paying for my usage)

[edu]

+1 Jerry's post

[Bamb0]

[sheprd]

Jerry's post 100%

[mballas]

With all this unanimity perhaps you dissidents could form your own free email service and let the rest of us enjoy our paid FastMail.