Yahoo! acquires Oddpost
Yahoo! acquires Oddpost. Yahoo! to get Gmail-esque GUI and a newsreader.
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Reader comments
michaelJul 10, 2004 at 11:47AM
here's the thing, though. i can't imagine a more non-gmail like UI than oddpost...
jkottkeJul 10, 2004 at 12:02PM
Both Gmail and Oddpost use lots of Javascript on the browser to make their Web apps work and feel more like desktop apps. I guess that's what I meant.
CZJul 10, 2004 at 12:11PM
It really would be pro if Gmail got a built in newsreader as well....
ZodJul 10, 2004 at 12:21PM
Oddpost only works on Windows right now in IE, at least that is what I've heard.
MattJul 10, 2004 at 1:19PM
I can't wait to see Oddpost work in mozilla someday.
RamananJul 10, 2004 at 2:02PM
Well it's interesting to see Yahoo! stepping up to bat in order to compete. Oddpost were the first out with the heavy javascript based UI if I recall. I didn't realize there was so much money to be made offering up free web based email however.
CZJul 10, 2004 at 2:39PM
Oddpost isn't free.
Unfortunately.
sjcJul 10, 2004 at 3:02PM
Having a Gmail account, I don't understand what the big hullabaloo is.
barlowJul 10, 2004 at 3:40PM
Perhaps all the javascript out there will prompt Apple to improve the javascript engine in Safari. Gmail is really unusable on Safari, I can't imagine how slow something like the Oddpost system would be.
anthonyJul 10, 2004 at 3:44PM
i don't need to know any more than what the slideshow tells me: these guys worked really hard, with very little, and made it big. congrats to them.
the oddpost ui is, of course, very nice. here's hoping it goes cross-platform smoothly.
AndrewJul 10, 2004 at 4:05PM
re Safari JavaScript:
Ask and you shall receive:
Safari 1.3 Seeded
"One users' BenchJS score went from 113 seconds to 16.29 seconds from Safari 1.2.2 to 1.3 (screenshot). Meanwhile Firefox .9 scored 49.0 seconds on the same test/hardware config (1GHz PowerBook)."
peteJul 10, 2004 at 4:36PM
can anyone recommend good books or resources for learning javascript functionality that is similar to Gmail, Oddpost or geninterface.com?
Thanks,
Pete
TomJul 10, 2004 at 7:50PM
Pete-
O'Reilly's 'DHTML' book is pretty good. It covers HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and the combination of all three.
mattJul 11, 2004 at 2:56PM
Gmail was better than oddpost already. It's going to take a lot of tweaking to catch up. And lets hear it for selling out! I'm guessing there isn't a lot of hope for small companies any longer. You do what you can before being eaten up
PaulJul 11, 2004 at 6:21PM
Gmail is really unusable on Safari
What version of Safari are you using? I use Gmail with 1.2.2 and have no troubles at all. According to this page they fixed it over a month ago.
KarlJul 11, 2004 at 6:51PM
Gmail was better than oddpost already.
I'm not sure what you're been using, but OddPost was/is lightyears ahead of Gmail. I don't see that the fascination with Gmail is all about. The UI is not as polished as OddPost or the existing Yahoo! Mail for that matter and some common features like folders are missing (yes, I know you can have labels, but why not both?)
IzzyJul 11, 2004 at 7:17PM
No problems with GMail on Safari 1.2.2 here either, works like a charm. I've never seen or heard of oddpost before, does anyone have a link to a screenshot?
barlowJul 11, 2004 at 11:20PM
By "unusable" I meant that it is too slow to use gmail on safari. Yes, it rendered properly, but it was way too slow. I'm using 1.2.2 as well.
LaxJul 11, 2004 at 11:55PM
The main Oddpost screen is here:
http://www.oddpost.com/img/readingMail.gif
Other screenshots are in a box down the left side of this page:
http://www.oddpost.com/learnmore
I love my Oddpost subscription, and wish its creators well. I do hope the new Yahoo! ownership doesn't
(a) bloat the UI with adverts, or (b) take away my ability to POP external accounts. Having said that, I'm
looking forward to seeing what they come up with... perhaps the competition with Gmail will bring some (useful?) new email-search functionality. Compatibility with non-IE browsers would also be a bonus.
LaxJul 11, 2004 at 11:56PM
Oops:
http://www.oddpost.com/img/readingMail.gif
http://www.oddpost.com/learnmore
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.