Basecamp’s radical new email platform

malcontent · 16 Jun 2020, 11:24 AM

https://www.fastcompany.com/90516667...email-platform

Quote:

Two years ago, he and fellow Basecamp cofounder and CEO Jason Fried decided to do something about it. The culmination of that work is a paid, $99-per-year email service called Hey, which launches today. Along with protecting users from the types of invasive surveillance tactics that have become de rigueur online, Hey also contains some radical ideas about the way that modern correspondence should work. Silicon Valley will be watching the product closely: Consumers like to say they value their privacy, but are they finally willing to pay for it?

Berenburger · 16 Jun 2020, 04:35 PM

Another review.

TenFour · 17 Jun 2020, 03:44 AM

Every email service that sorts things automatically into categories using AI makes mistakes. Those mistakes mean you miss important messages, and waste time searching for things you need that are miscategorized. It is just the nature of these systems and impossible to avoid. Personally, I trust my own RI more than any AI to sort my email the way I want it sorted. I'm not going to pay $99 per year to waste time. Having used Basecamp in the past (not recently) they are great at making simple things complex.

malcontent · 17 Jun 2020, 08:00 AM

https://twitter.com/dhh/status/1272968382329942017

TenFour · 17 Jun 2020, 08:14 AM

That's an epic Twitter rant, but seems like something they should have planned for, doesn't it? Frankly, I think any $99 a year email service is doomed. Especially one that thinks it knows the only right way to do everything for you. No IMAP or POP either.

TenFour · 17 Jun 2020, 08:37 PM

Here's another article on Basecamp's complaint against Apple: https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/16/2...ters-antitrust

chrisretusn · 17 Jun 2020, 08:54 PM

Hey! Everything I've read so far about this... NO Thanks.

It's one reason I use an email client. The screenshot for me are a real turn off, reminds me of a now defunct (I think) client that used to be out there.

I prefer to categorize my emails my self. I not a huge fan of Gmail's labeling setup either.

The is no way in H I want my email to look like a Facebook News Feed. Oh my gosh, that's a pure mess.

Not worth $99 in my opinion.

TenFour · 17 Jun 2020, 09:01 PM

Quote:

I not a huge fan of Gmail's labeling setup either.

You can turn that off in Settings. I have my Gmail inbox set up so that starred emails are first and then the rest are in chronological order with conversation view turned off. I star important messages that I need to keep track of for awhile, and then they live at the top of the inbox until I dismiss them by archiving. In any case, I agree that I prefer to organize my email the way I want it organized. I don't want some email client deciding for me.

jeffpan · 18 Jun 2020, 10:31 AM

$99 is worse pricing. fastmail's $50 is far better than them, think fastmail has great experience and nice development on email service.

$9.9 is reasonable for them IMO.

TenFour · 19 Jun 2020, 09:55 AM

Another review by someone who actually tried using it as his main email service: https://medium.com/@JamesCridland/he...s-bb51e56f6f18

chrisretusn · 19 Jun 2020, 04:08 PM

That review was interesting. Hey, it defiantly not for me. The biggest show stopper was no rules. My email evolves around rules. I need rules.

ankupan · 20 Jun 2020, 10:18 PM

they are forcing to use their hey.com email id only.

No domain or no forwarding or no other app access.

Just HEY only.

Berenburger · 21 Jun 2020, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenFour

Every email service that sorts things automatically into categories using AI makes mistakes. Those mistakes mean you miss important messages, and waste time searching for things you need that are miscategorized. It is just the nature of these systems and impossible to avoid. Personally, I trust my own RI more than any AI to sort my email the way I want it sorted. I'm not going to pay $99 per year to waste time. Having used Basecamp in the past (not recently) they are great at making simple things complex.

Hey just doesn't use AI.

Quote:

HI not AI
Email’s better with a human at the helm. That’s you. You’re better at deciding where things go, what your intentions are, and how you want things set up. The machines have a lot of learning to do before they'll be able to second-guess whether you actually wanted to see that email, whether it was a receipt or a newsletter, and even what you should be writing someone. At HEY, it's human intelligence over artificial intelligence. HI > AI.

TenFour · 21 Jun 2020, 08:08 AM

HI is definitely better than AI, but still I find that any type of automated sorting misplaces things and wastes time. There are examples in the Medium story above. An email arrives from a company so you decide it should be automatically sorted into "receipts," but then an important shipping update comes in with the same email address and you miss it because it went into a folder you don't check regularly. That sort of thing is rampant using ordinary filters. I've tried to set them up, and automating just doesn't work--too many variables. You now have to check multiple folders constantly instead of just the Inbox.

Berenburger · 21 Jun 2020, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ankupan

they are forcing to use their hey.com email id only.

No domain or no forwarding or no other app access.

Just HEY only.

Domain is coming later this year.
You can forward to any email address.
You can export an MBOX file with all your email and attachments any time.

17 Jun 2020, 08:00 AM	#4
malcontent Essential Contributor Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 261	Basecamp Claims Apple is Rejecting Bug Fixes to the iPhone App https://twitter.com/dhh/status/1272968382329942017

17 Jun 2020, 08:14 AM	#5
TenFour Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: USA Posts: 1,581	That's an epic Twitter rant, but seems like something they should have planned for, doesn't it? Frankly, I think any $99 a year email service is doomed. Especially one that thinks it knows the only right way to do everything for you. No IMAP or POP either. Last edited by TenFour : 17 Jun 2020 at 09:15 AM.

16 Jun 2020, 04:35 PM	#2
Berenburger The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 2,875	Another review.

17 Jun 2020, 03:44 AM	#3
TenFour Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: USA Posts: 1,581	Every email service that sorts things automatically into categories using AI makes mistakes. Those mistakes mean you miss important messages, and waste time searching for things you need that are miscategorized. It is just the nature of these systems and impossible to avoid. Personally, I trust my own RI more than any AI to sort my email the way I want it sorted. I'm not going to pay $99 per year to waste time. Having used Basecamp in the past (not recently) they are great at making simple things complex.

17 Jun 2020, 08:37 PM	#6
TenFour Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: USA Posts: 1,581	Here's another article on Basecamp's complaint against Apple: https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/16/2...ters-antitrust

17 Jun 2020, 08:54 PM	#7
chrisretusn Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Philippines Posts: 828	Hey! Everything I've read so far about this... NO Thanks. It's one reason I use an email client. The screenshot for me are a real turn off, reminds me of a now defunct (I think) client that used to be out there. I prefer to categorize my emails my self. I not a huge fan of Gmail's labeling setup either. The is no way in H I want my email to look like a Facebook News Feed. Oh my gosh, that's a pure mess. Not worth $99 in my opinion.

18 Jun 2020, 10:31 AM	#9
jeffpan The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Macao Posts: 2,092 Representative of: tls-mail.com	$99 is worse pricing. fastmail's $50 is far better than them, think fastmail has great experience and nice development on email service. $9.9 is reasonable for them IMO.

19 Jun 2020, 09:55 AM	#10
TenFour Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: USA Posts: 1,581	Another review by someone who actually tried using it as his main email service: https://medium.com/@JamesCridland/he...s-bb51e56f6f18

19 Jun 2020, 04:08 PM	#11
chrisretusn Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Philippines Posts: 828	That review was interesting. Hey, it defiantly not for me. The biggest show stopper was no rules. My email evolves around rules. I need rules.

20 Jun 2020, 10:18 PM	#12
ankupan Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 806	they are forcing to use their hey.com email id only. No domain or no forwarding or no other app access. Just HEY only.

21 Jun 2020, 08:08 AM	#14
TenFour Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: USA Posts: 1,581	HI is definitely better than AI, but still I find that any type of automated sorting misplaces things and wastes time. There are examples in the Medium story above. An email arrives from a company so you decide it should be automatically sorted into "receipts," but then an important shipping update comes in with the same email address and you miss it because it went into a folder you don't check regularly. That sort of thing is rampant using ordinary filters. I've tried to set them up, and automating just doesn't work--too many variables. You now have to check multiple folders constantly instead of just the Inbox.