Email Takes A Beating This Week But Is Far From Dead

Megalith

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There seems to be an increasing trend of companies dropping email in favor of apps. Do they seriously expect me to download an app just to get support?

Uber revealed plans to phase out emails for customer support and replace it with in-app support instead. Moving forward, if you email Uber, you’ll receive an automated response telling you to submit your issue through the app instead, with much of the subsequent help offered as automated processes too. On the very same day Uber stuck the knife into email’s gut, Facebook announced its very own nail for email’s coffin in the form of a KLM partnership that will allow the airline’s customers to receive flight confirmations, boarding cards, reminders, flight status updates, and customer service directly through Facebook’s Messenger app.
 
Sounds like a mess. So many years from now every company will have their own app. Then one day someone will invent a way to combine it all. The wheel will be reinvented that day :D
 
So I guess if for some reason you don't have or can't get a smartphone, you are just SOL?

At least with email you could use a public computer and use webmail.
 
So, when a guy in Africa managed to use my Swedish G-mail address to register an Uber account recently and take trips that they couldn't charge for. Then in the future I have to install an app for a service I do not need or want to get rid of the resulting mess?
Companies like this have to see a bigger picture where problems may arise for people outside their "sect" because of their service practices.
On the other hand, How would you manage setting up accounts on the service without E-mail? If they solve that, then problems like mine may not have been possible in the first place... Maybe a good thing. Easier to just be able to ignore companies like this altogether.
 
I would think they'll use phone numbers to set up the accounts...

Stupid idea though. That said, not relying on one method of communication is not a bad idea either.
 
Things like Slack and Hipchat are much better than email. Its not going away but I don't see the trend away from email stopping either.
 
So, when a guy in Africa managed to use my Swedish G-mail address to register an Uber account recently and take trips that they couldn't charge for. Then in the future I have to install an app for a service I do not need or want to get rid of the resulting mess?

I've been seeing an increasing amount of email notifications from people using my address to create accounts. Why companies even allow for an account to be created and used without first verifying the email used to create the account is way beyond me... especially in this age. There's no excuse.
 
Uber is one of the worst services about forcing apps down your throat, though. I mean, they won't even let me schedule a ride from their website. Which is very annoying if I need to be somewhere in a hurry and I've forgotten to charge my smartphone. On the other hand, they at least have a Windows Phone app. Requiring me to grab my smartphone to receive a verification code via text message is annoying enough, but I don't want to see everything shifted over to apps. So far, I barely use any apps, and do most stuff via text message, e-mail, or web browser.

I think apps are inferior because they're generally not universal and essentially force you to use a device with access to either the App store or the Play store. Most of the time, a website applet can duplicate the functionality of these apps even on a smartphone, with the advantage of also working on any machine with Internet access (barring geolocation, obviously). I especially don't want to type a letter to tech support on a touchscreen. That's unprofessional, but I guess that's what they're saying the next generation is going to do... provide bad service in an unprofessional manner without actually taking the time to read anything longer than three sentences.

I hope that business providing more serious services don't follow suit, because then I would be forced to avoid certain companies for as many years as I can, until eventually the critical mass is such that I absolutely have to buy a supported smartphone and get locked into the same upgrade cycle as everyone else just to be able to use apps for everyday things. And it's completely arbitrary, there's no reason to force this on people except that they can and most of them won't care. I've gotten away with not having a smartphone, and then going with a less-popular smartphone because I didn't have or want any apps, as I've always had alternatives to using them for most things I wanted to do. This sounds like they're threatening to take those alternatives away, and then you'll be just as stuck using Android or iOS on a phone as you are using Windows or Mac OS on a PC, only it will be worse because it will actually impact your everyday life to the point that you might not be able to function or do business without your phone.

How is going back to requiring a program that only works on certain versions of certain platforms progress from fairly universal web sites? I just don't see the logic.

Even if nothing else bothers you, what if the issue is that I can't get the app to work due to a bug? How would I communicate that if the only way they'll communicate is through the app? Will they have to create an app to communicate with app developers about bugs that prevent you from communicating with them via their app?
 
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This trend of having to use an app for everything is fucking idiotic. Before long there won't even be web browsers anymore because everyone thinks they need to have their own app instead.
 
This is about control. Via the web (including email), you have control over how you view data. You can choose your browser, you can run plug-ins, you can access your data from anywhere, etc. Apps give the company full control over the user experience, starting with the user agreement everyone has to agree to in order to use the app at all. Almost all apps now request access to pretty much everything on your phone, including your location info, your search history, your camera, your contacts, etc, and do so like it's no big deal, because they know 99.5% of everyone just clicks accept without even reading anyway. It helps to give them many more ways to make money off of you.

Best thing to do is just give your business to a competitor instead. Use Lyft instead of Uber, etc. Problem is that apps are trendy and I doubt the hipsters that these companies target give half a shit about how the app push will affect the industry in the long term.
 
Don't worry about it. Once the transition to the paperless office is complete we will finally be free to work on the email free office.

Of course, if this does eventually someday happen I am getting a flip phone and turning off texting.
 
I've been seeing an increasing amount of email notifications from people using my address to create accounts. Why companies even allow for an account to be created and used without first verifying the email used to create the account is way beyond me... especially in this age. There's no excuse.

"Reducing friction".
 
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