Do most people still use a mail client

chas_m said:

As for the overall trend, it seems to me that more people are using webmail (largely thanks to Gmail) these days, but they are using email overall less than before (thanks to iMessage, texting and instant messaging generally).

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You and I live in a very different world. While people more and more use IM clients, especially the cross platform ones such as Viber or WhatsApp, email is as strong as ever. It's the "old" technology that just won't die nor will it likely ever do so.

I can only speak anecdotally based on friends and clients and my own use, but iMessage and Facebook mean I spend a LOT less time using email than I used to for that circle of friends. I now spend FAR less time in email (maybe a few minutes a day) than I did say eight years ago (when I practically lived in my email program).

My perception in watching younger users and my clients is that they use IM to handle a lot of day-to-day business stuff that used to be handled by email, and that even seniors are tending to use webmail more than traditional clients anymore. YMMV.

LOL, between the both of you (myself included) and millions of other users, it's no wonder the Postal Services are going broke! When was the last time any of us wrote a letter? We even send our Christmas and birthdays cards digitally.

I still do send out printed Xmas cards to my family and closest friends, but that list is much shorter than the ones I send digital cards to!

Yeah, actual letter-writing is kind of a dead art anymore. I grieve for future historians, but email pretty much sealed the fate of letters. OTOH, (not meaning to turn this into a whole USPS rant), the Post Office dropped the ball by not recognizing the shift to packages (which we send more than ever before) earlier. They could have nipped FedEx, UPS et al in the bud but didn't move quickly enough. I still prefer USPS over UPS (by a country mile!) but FedEx is pretty good IMO.

chscag said:

LOL, between the both of you (myself included) and millions of other users, it's no wonder the Postal Services are going broke! When was the last time any of us wrote a letter? We even send our Christmas and birthdays cards digitally.

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I still write written letters...I just seem to give them to people in person (cards mostly). I guess I am part of the reason that urban mail delivery is being phased out in Canada.

I didn't know it was being phased out in Canada. It has been "rumored" that urban or rural mail will be phased out here in the US as well. However, our "wonderful" congress has balked at that so it seems it will continue for the near future. Unfortunately like everything else that is costly, they haven't figured out a way to continue paying for it other than raising the already high postal rates.

chscag said:

Unfortunately like everything else that is costly, they haven't figured out a way to continue paying for it other than raising the already high postal rates.

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We're getting the higher postage here as well. Lucky us.

osxx said:

i have used Mac Mail since 06 with just a few minor glitches along the way but since Maverick's its been trouble free.

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Lots of different experiences with Mail obviously. My wife upgraded from Mountain Lion to Mavericks and reports that all the problems she had with Mail before have now all resolved.
Not only that, but she used to get a lot of Spam/Trash mail before the upgrade and without changing any of the filters on the Mac or mail server they have just stopped??
Just goes to show how many variables there are out there.:

vansmith said:

You and I live in a very different world. While people more and more use IM clients, especially the cross platform ones such as Viber or WhatsApp, email is as strong as ever. It's the "old" technology that just won't die nor will it likely ever do so.

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I still think that while IM clients are multiplying rapidly they are useless for keeping records of transactions especially secure ones like software registration, web links, password alteration and confirmation, and important documents sent as attachments.
I think I'll still be using an email client for a long time to come especially for "off line" use, believe it or not some of us users are not constantly connected to a network.