Comments on: AwayFind gives you the peace of mind to ignore your inbox without fear of missing an important email http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Sat, 25 May 2013 10:21:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Luther Blissett http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1556040 Luther Blissett Sat, 13 Oct 2012 14:59:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1556040 Acknowledged that you showed sympathy. Still, why should anyone give them their keys to their house? Oops, sry: their mail? Remember @mathonan? Acknowledged that you showed sympathy.

Still, why should anyone give them their keys to their house? Oops, sry: their mail? Remember @mathonan?

]]> By: TheOven http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555503 TheOven Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:45:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555503 Sorry for all the negativity coming your way.  Sorry for all the negativity coming your way. 

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555420 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:44:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555420 We have a free version, too.  He didn't mention that part.  Like any freemium product, most people use the Free version. We have a free version, too.  He didn’t mention that part.  Like any freemium product, most people use the Free version.

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555416 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:41:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555416 I can assure you that if someone paid for this publicity, it wasn't AwayFind.  So if there's someone up there in the sky that's paying for us to get PR, I thank you for that, PR God. So far as I know, Mark's been using the tool for some time now, and reached out to interview me as a fan of the product.  But, hey, Mark, if you're in SF, I'll happily buy a beer! I can assure you that if someone paid for this publicity, it wasn’t AwayFind.  So if there’s someone up there in the sky that’s paying for us to get PR, I thank you for that, PR God.

So far as I know, Mark’s been using the tool for some time now, and reached out to interview me as a fan of the product.  But, hey, Mark, if you’re in SF, I’ll happily buy a beer!

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555414 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555414 See comment above to Jonathan.  I love what Linden and the rest of the IFTTT team are doing.  We just do more that's focused around email.  Our skill is depth for regular folks, rather than breadth for engineers.  Hope that helps! See comment above to Jonathan.  I love what Linden and the rest of the IFTTT team are doing.  We just do more that’s focused around email.  Our skill is depth for regular folks, rather than breadth for engineers.  Hope that helps!

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555413 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:38:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555413 Basically. + Calendar integration + CRM integration + iPhone & Android app + expiring alerts + intelligence about who to setup alerts for Hope that helps to clarify! Basically.

+ Calendar integration
+ CRM integration
+ iPhone & Android app
+ expiring alerts
+ intelligence about who to setup alerts for

Hope that helps to clarify!

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555407 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:37:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555407 Tell that to a lawyer or a real estate agent or support rep...  I wish there were no cases for some emails being urgent.  But every once in a while there is something that needs an immediate response. Tell that to a lawyer or a real estate agent or support rep…  I wish there were no cases for some emails being urgent.  But every once in a while there is something that needs an immediate response.

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555403 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:34:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555403 Ha! As the founder of AwayFind, I can tell you that for 8 years I ran a productivity training business and we had so much trouble getting our clients to close their inbox.  So we built a tool that literally thinks of all the pieces and education necessary to help people to confidently close their inbox. Yes, there are tools that can do parts of what we do.  And yes, an engineer can build some more pieces of it.  But I don't believe there's any tool that's as comprehensive or geared toward a regular businessperson that comes close when it comes to how easy we make it to escape your email. Unfortunately it's the details that matter.  I wish I didn't have to build AwayFind, but when people lose a quarter of their day to being interrupted, telling them to build an IFTTT recipe or 3 just isn't the same as giving them a big button to press along with training material that explains WHY they need to get out of their email. Believe me, I wish I never had to build this product.  But I'm so glad that it's helped folks like Mark, and hope you'll give it a try : ) Cheers! Ha!

As the founder of AwayFind, I can tell you that for 8 years I ran a productivity training business and we had so much trouble getting our clients to close their inbox.  So we built a tool that literally thinks of all the pieces and education necessary to help people to confidently close their inbox.

Yes, there are tools that can do parts of what we do.  And yes, an engineer can build some more pieces of it.  But I don’t believe there’s any tool that’s as comprehensive or geared toward a regular businessperson that comes close when it comes to how easy we make it to escape your email.

Unfortunately it’s the details that matter.  I wish I didn’t have to build AwayFind, but when people lose a quarter of their day to being interrupted, telling them to build an IFTTT recipe or 3 just isn’t the same as giving them a big button to press along with training material that explains WHY they need to get out of their email.

Believe me, I wish I never had to build this product.  But I’m so glad that it’s helped folks like Mark, and hope you’ll give it a try : )

Cheers!

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555392 Jared Goralnick Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:29:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555392 Joe, you're right that IFTTT does offer a recipe for email to SMS.  Our value is that our product is DEEPLY integrated with email and designed to help people stay in the loop for the most critical of messages. For instance, you can create a rule from our iPhone app while you're sitting at lunch, so a special alarm will go off if someone emails you. There's no iOS or Android app to do this with IFTTT. Or if you have a lot of appointments, we'll sync with your calendar to let you know of last minute changes. Or if you use Salesforce, we'll let you know when someone tied to an opportunity emails you. And we plug directly into the UI of Gmail and Outlook, so you can create these rules without logging into a separate website.  And these rules can be set to expire. Essentially, if you get a lot of email and have certain things that are very important, we make this extremely easy...and we send the alert within seconds (not within 15 minutes...which makes a big difference in some industries like finance or real estate). IFTTT is a great utility that pieces lots of things together.  AwayFind is 100% focused on email alerting, and helping people to get focus...so we have a bit more depth there.  It's not for everyone, and it's much more mainstream in who can use (i.e., it's not a developer tool) but we do a lot that's different. Hope that helps to clarify! Joe, you’re right that IFTTT does offer a recipe for email to SMS.  Our value is that our product is DEEPLY integrated with email and designed to help people stay in the loop for the most critical of messages.

For instance, you can create a rule from our iPhone app while you’re sitting at lunch, so a special alarm will go off if someone emails you. There’s no iOS or Android app to do this with IFTTT.

Or if you have a lot of appointments, we’ll sync with your calendar to let you know of last minute changes.

Or if you use Salesforce, we’ll let you know when someone tied to an opportunity emails you.

And we plug directly into the UI of Gmail and Outlook, so you can create these rules without logging into a separate website.  And these rules can be set to expire.

Essentially, if you get a lot of email and have certain things that are very important, we make this extremely easy…and we send the alert within seconds (not within 15 minutes…which makes a big difference in some industries like finance or real estate).

IFTTT is a great utility that pieces lots of things together.  AwayFind is 100% focused on email alerting, and helping people to get focus…so we have a bit more depth there.  It’s not for everyone, and it’s much more mainstream in who can use (i.e., it’s not a developer tool) but we do a lot that’s different.

Hope that helps to clarify!

]]> By: hellomantoronto http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555361 hellomantoronto Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:12:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555361 Boing-Boing placing huge ads into the midst of the blog flow? Not cool. Some masked as 'content' such as this article, this is pushy and lacking in vision. Surely you can pay your bills without bombing your readers. Boing-Boing placing huge ads into the midst of the blog flow? Not cool. Some masked as ‘content’ such as this article, this is pushy and lacking in vision. Surely you can pay your bills without bombing your readers.

]]> By: boingburner http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555218 boingburner Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:45:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555218 Seems odd no one has mentioned that in order to do this, you have to give this company the keys to your email account and the ability to scan and record the content of your emails, as well as everything else in there, like your contacts and calendar. And since they have to log in to those accounts, they have to store your passwords in a reversible format. But of course you can trust that they are so good at security there's no chance of their information ever being compromised. Seems odd no one has mentioned that in order to do this, you have to give this company the keys to your email account and the ability to scan and record the content of your emails, as well as everything else in there, like your contacts and calendar. And since they have to log in to those accounts, they have to store your passwords in a reversible format. But of course you can trust that they are so good at security there’s no chance of their information ever being compromised.

]]> By: Luther Blissett http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555073 Luther Blissett Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:10:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555073 Why don't use a IMAP folder (and only sync this one folder on your mobile device)? Filter rule on the server? I don't need any third party accessing my inbox, thank you very much. Why don’t use a IMAP folder (and only sync this one folder on your mobile device)? Filter rule on the server?
I don’t need any third party accessing my inbox, thank you very much.

]]> By: Jonathan Roberts http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555064 Jonathan Roberts Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:54:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555064 Gmail does that too (although admittedly it's not an old feature). I have all my email sent to whatever folder it needs to be in, marked as read, important or whatever. Any emails from important people which follow a particular pattern in the subject line get sent to me via SMS using IFTTT. It's just the first line or so, but I do get enough information to decide whether I need to open and reply to the email. Gmail does that too (although admittedly it’s not an old feature). I have all my email sent to whatever folder it needs to be in, marked as read, important or whatever. Any emails from important people which follow a particular pattern in the subject line get sent to me via SMS using IFTTT. It’s just the first line or so, but I do get enough information to decide whether I need to open and reply to the email.

]]> By: parfae http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1555011 parfae Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:06:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1555011 Or you could make an IFTTT recipe to text you when you receive an important email. Can I get $15 a month now? Or you could make an IFTTT recipe to text you when you receive an important email. Can I get $15 a month now?

]]> By: Daemonworks http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554746 Daemonworks Fri, 12 Oct 2012 01:44:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554746 So, basically it's a paid version of a filter I can set up in a minute or two in my gmail, for free. So, basically it’s a paid version of a filter I can set up in a minute or two in my gmail, for free.

]]> By: PaulDavisTheFirst http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554705 PaulDavisTheFirst Fri, 12 Oct 2012 00:26:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554705  no doubt with notifications reaching your twenty year old multitouch 4G smartphone, that functioned more or less wherever you were? impressive!  no doubt with notifications reaching your twenty year old multitouch 4G smartphone, that functioned more or less wherever you were? impressive!

]]> By: Stooge http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554692 Stooge Fri, 12 Oct 2012 00:07:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554692 Yes, and you can also hook procmail up to an SMS gateway and get it to take a peek at your calendar too, but that's not exactly a trivial amount of effort. Yes, and you can also hook procmail up to an SMS gateway and get it to take a peek at your calendar too, but that’s not exactly a trivial amount of effort.

]]> By: jere7my http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554666 jere7my Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:26:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554666 Hmm. I've been doing this in Eudora for twenty years. Hmm. I’ve been doing this in Eudora for twenty years.

]]> By: cellocgw http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554664 cellocgw Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:24:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554664 Except there is NO, zero, exactly none e-mails so important that they can't wait a few hours.   Click on that old "QUIT" button and boot up your email app twice a day or less. Except there is NO, zero, exactly none e-mails so important that they can’t wait a few hours.   Click on that old “QUIT” button and boot up your email app twice a day or less.

]]> By: Hypocrite http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554662 Hypocrite Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:23:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554662 Way to piss money away Mark. Way to piss money away Mark.

]]> By: TheOven http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554660 TheOven Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:22:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554660 I was with you right up until I saw the cost.  I was with you right up until I saw the cost. 

]]> By: WaferMouse http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554644 WaferMouse Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:07:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554644 Hmmm. There's like a billion free ways to do this already. Did it only become blogworthy when Apple featured it in a rich, multimedia keynote presentation? Hmmm. There’s like a billion free ways to do this already. Did it only become blogworthy when Apple featured it in a rich, multimedia keynote presentation?

]]> By: Joe Buck http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554638 Joe Buck Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:04:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554638 The very ancient Unix/Linux procmail facility let you set up any rules you wanted; if the fields in the header matched a pattern, take an action (which could be anything: delete the mail, put it in a particular folder, forward it, run an arbitrary command).  But I guess it wasn't Innovation until Apple did it and made it shiny. The very ancient Unix/Linux procmail facility let you set up any rules you wanted; if the fields in the header matched a pattern, take an action (which could be anything: delete the mail, put it in a particular folder, forward it, run an arbitrary command).  But I guess it wasn’t Innovation until Apple did it and made it shiny.

]]> By: technobach http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554639 technobach Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:04:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554639  Same reason I've prioritized the Nigerian prince.  Same reason I’ve prioritized the Nigerian prince.

]]> By: Marc Mielke http://boingboing.net/2012/10/11/awayfind-gives-you-the-peace-o.html#comment-1554635 Marc Mielke Thu, 11 Oct 2012 22:57:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=186944#comment-1554635 Why would anyone prioritize emails from Obama? I get like a hundred of them a day! Why would anyone prioritize emails from Obama? I get like a hundred of them a day!

]]>