Gmail Adds 5 Second Send Rule 281
theatrecade was one of a few folks to note that Google Labs has added the
five-second rule to email. Once upon a time this rule only applied to delicious foodstuffs dropped on the floor, but at long last you can change your mind on that email to your boss or ex. We shall see peace in our lifetimes.
5 seconds isn't long enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Some people can barely react in that time. Although I can appreciate that a pop-up should not last longer, would a settable delay of 1-10 minutes really kill the medium? Perhaps with a "Send now" option on pending emails for urgent communication.
Re:That makes no sense (Score:5, Insightful)
It happens more often than you think. I've had plenty of times when I've clicked send and almost instantaneously realized I had a mistake in the email. This will save me from having to immediately reply to my own email to make that correction, thus looking like a fool (I have plenty of other ways to make myself look like a fool, thank you very much).
Now, if they could just add a feature that held any emails sent after 2am for 12 hours, aka the "sober up first" rule, thus preventing me from waking up after a bender thinking, "oh crap, did I really send that email confessing my true feelings to that girl I had a crush on in high school but hadn't talked to in 15 years?", life would be just great.
Try changing habits instead (Score:5, Insightful)
Another solution is to always sit back and read through the entire message (and recipient list) before hitting send.
I mean that quite literally. Remove hands from keyboard, sit back and just read.
That habit has saved me a lot of trouble in the past.
CNN? (Score:2, Insightful)
Really guys? You're linking to the CNN article instead of the official gmail blog's article? What, Al Jazeera didn't have an article up for this, too?
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-in-labs-undo-send.html
Re:My Idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Thunderbird for one places the address book button right next to the send button (at least on my system) and I've never bothered to change it. Same thing with the dropdown box that lets you choose which address you want to send your email from, which has caused me to send at least one blank email from my personal address to a colleague.
Amazing (Score:1, Insightful)
It's good to see Slashdot reporting on technological achievements of this magnitude. I can't wait to hear the next GUI tweak for some other application. Perhaps the repositioning of a button, or a change in the font size of some GUI element will be next.
Truly advancements of this sort can only be achieved by a think tank of the best minds Google could recruit from top universities.
Re:That makes no sense (Score:2, Insightful)
How many people send an e-mail, just to think: "oh no!" 2 - 4 seconds later.
Sometimes when I want to type an "A" I end up hitting TAB (french keyboard). If I'm at the end of a word, and I'm not paying attention to what's on screen, I'll hit space while the focus is on the "Send" button, and the email will be sent.
Easy to avoid (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not a terrible idea. There have been a number of times that I've sent an email with the body of text saying "here's the report you asked for" and forgot to attach it. which made me feel like an idiot.
You can avoid that from happening ever again. And it's very simple:
Before you write any sentence mentioning an attachment, attach the file first.
Same goes for important mail. When writing a job application, finish the email first, then add the recipient address last.
Re:That makes no sense (Score:3, Insightful)
I primarily use Thunderbird for work email. There is an option to confirm before sending (much in the manner of Vista's UAC "Are you sure?" windows) that most people disable. I leave it enabled and find myself saying "no, I'm not sure" at least once per week.
Re:Ooh baby... (Score:3, Insightful)
And from some of the posters here, I think there would be unintentional as well as intentional crapfloods.
I'll gladly put up with 'slow down cowboy' in lieu of crapfloods... it avoids inflation of mod points in order to deal with them.
Bingo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Rule number one of electronic communication: never send any while angry. Always calm down first.
Re:My Idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Wait five seconds.
-dZ.
How about configurable from 5 sec to 15 min? (Score:2, Insightful)