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December 13th, 2005

E-Mail Wishlist: Stupidity Checking

One of the simplest, but most ingenious, e-mail client features I’ve read about in recent memory is that one that scans for words like “attached” and then alert the sender if they haven’t attached a document. After all, we’ve all sent a message to a co-worker or friend and told them to “see the attached document” and then forgotten to attach anything, right? This requires a follow-up e-mail to say, “Sorry, forgot to attach it. Here it is.” Sometimes this second e-mail is also attachment-less. So, an e-mail app like that can stop you from your own stupidity.

Another feature I’d love to see is one that scans your message for dates and informs you when you’re about to make a big mistake, like saying, “OK, we’ll meet on Wednesday, December 15th.” The app would flash and say, “Dummy! December 15th is a Thursday!” I know I certainly could use that feature.

What dummy-proofing would you like to see in your favorite mail app?

Posted in Technology

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