"I appreciate a good hack, but just can't get past the idea that this is a solution in search of a problem."
I had exactly the same reaction: good hack, where's the problem?
The solution to the problem of too much email already exists, and that solution is ... email. Email is asynchronous, and you get to decide when and what to do with it.
But respecting people's time isn't about knowing how much e-mail the person you're sending to has...
It's about sending only important e-mails/"not spamming". So, regardless of whether the guy I'm sending to has an empty or an overloaded inbox, I should always send the e-mail, because it's important.
I don't have an overloaded inbox, but for those who do, it seems to me that they're mostly overloaded with stuff that was sent to a group rather than to them as an individual.
If the sender is even thinking about the question "Does this particular individual have time to read this email?" then the chances are that this email is already far more important than average.
Great point. That's why theres a line underneath "unbearable" that says "please only send if it's urgent."
Also to your point, I'm not sure if this is a good product for workplace email exchanges. In that setting you're sort of forced to send things to people wether you want to or not.
"Overflowing inboxes are the problem."
Exactly, maybe you can hack a simple "remove reply all button", so people need to think before they actually add more names to the CC list!
I had exactly the same reaction: good hack, where's the problem?
The solution to the problem of too much email already exists, and that solution is ... email. Email is asynchronous, and you get to decide when and what to do with it.