Big idea,short mail

Shortmail,as the name suggests,means 500 characters,yes,including the spaces. What’s the point,you might ask. Shortmail is just about conversations. This service doesn’t have the time or space for spam or unnecessary forwards on how to be a nice person or extra-large images of scenic landscapes in Norway.

Anyone with a Twitter account now has a Shortmail account too. You just have to go to shortmail.com to claim it. Predictably,your email id will be twitterID@shortmail.com,no wonder it’s already been christened the Twitter of email. You can send mails to any email ID,and vice versa. Conversations will appear like a thread,very similar to how text messages appear on new smartphones. By default,while incoming messages are expanded,your replies are limited to the first line; so even long conversations can be read with limited scrolling up and down.

Another good thing about Shortmail is that people will no longer have to search for your email id. If they know you are on Twitter,they can send you an email,a rather short one,though. In my books,this brings in a lot of transparency and increases the scope of conversation,for you can now send a mail to Barack Obama about his Twitter Town Hall,or engage in a conversation with Shashi Tharoor. The Twitterati is now on everyone’s mailing list,let’s just hope they also activate their Shortmail accounts soon.

You have limited options while sending a mail from Shortmail,other than maybe adding a subject line. Shortmail also gives you the option of deciding if you want to keep the mail private or public. If you decide to go public with your mail,the conversation will start showing on your Shortmail page — http://shortmail.com/twitterID. I am sure we will soon hear about interesting “open letter” conversations and debates.

In his welcome message to users,Dave Troy,CEO at 410Labs,and the creator of Shortmail.com,said: “Yes,it’s length-limited to 500 characters. But it’s also social — linked to your Twitter account. Over time,we want to make email much more social and more efficient. ”

In a Shortmail conversation with the Sunday Indian Express,Troy said the response had been overwhelming,though it’s still a bit early to talk about specific numbers. “We estimate at least 15,000 Twitter mentions from users all around the world in the last seven days,” he says. “Anyone who is concerned about productivity and simplicity is our target user,” explains Troy,adding that he thinks those who need this kind of an email service “will find it”. Troy suggests there is a lot more to come from Shortmail,“We have some fun plans there”.

While Shortmail will definitely put an end to unwanted forwards and long-winding corporate communiqué,I doubt whether it will keep the spammers away. Anyone who has used Twitter knows that,if needed,spam can limit itself to under 140 characters. Despite early reports of Twitter spam spilling over to Shortmail,there is still no sign of a spam button. But the spam is still just a trickle compared to what you encounter on other mail services.

To borrow a cliché,this is one small step,with the potential to become a giant leap. For it won’t take long for people who spend hours every day checking their emails to appreciate the idea behind Shortmail. Think of a scenario where you have a year-old mail account without a single mail that you haven’t read to the end. That will be something to write home about.