Originally Posted by
scottdoc Does anyone else think its odd that I cant create a local folder on my iphone independent of my mail service to move messages around in? I am not sure why this cant be done or isnt setup to allow me to do so. I would think there would be a create folder button or similar on my "Inbox, Sent and Trash" folders screen. Weird...
-Scott
It's not really that odd. POP3 was originally created during the dial up era. The POP3 paradigm was that you dial up the provider, downloaded your emails to your computer (while usually deleting them from the server) and then disconnecting and reading your emails offline, connecting again to send them.
Since broadband became ubiquitous, and a constant connection is most common, most have moved to the server model for emails. You leave the emails on the server, sync the headers, and you pull down the ones you want to read. There are distinct advantages to this model, especially if you need email access in multiple locations as it will sync status between multiple computers. Server space has also gotten quite large so there no need for most to even delete emails on the server.
With the advent of smartphones, a new model is taking over for those. Instead of pulling down emails as you need them, the server pushes the emails to your device. Smartphones have basically turned emails into advanced beeper messages. Because a smartphone pretty much means you have access to the same email account on another device, usually a computer, it's convenient to sync the emails so you know which ones you've read and stuff. That was what made Blackberry so popular a few years ago, and it's still popular for this reason.
In the last two models, folders are controlled on the server, as opposed to POP3 where it was controlled on your desktop. You need to issue commands to the server to create the folders. There's no other way to sync between computers/devices.
My advice is, move onto a server based email protocol. I strongly doubt Apple is going to include any new features for POP based email because honestly, it's dated technology.
I am amazed at how the act of adding an email folder on the local device for organizational purposes has convinced people that this is a feature for a powerful mail client. I am dissappointed with my Ipad for many related reasons where the user is locked out from the OS. You have to buy an app just to extend the features of your platform.... which means the platform doesn't lack power at all. The problem is marketing has convinved the users, in an attempt to extend thier bottom line, that things that were considered basic features 10-15 years ago (when computers were far less powerful then our handheld gadgets today) are powerful by todays standards. Not everyone uses webmail. Besides, it shouldn't matter what protocol your mail server is using in order for you to organize the messages you downloaded into folders instead of ungodly long lists of unorganized emails. You shouldn't have to "Jailbreak" your Ipad to get it to do something simple. What an insult (any way you dress it up).
09-22-2010 12:48 PM
09-22-2010 01:00 PM
