JMAP – a better way to email
JMAP is a rather misleading name.<p>"J" is misleading because it's not JSON that distinguishes JMAP from IMAP, but rather the use of HTTP, along with recently added HTTP features such as push. JSON is just the message packing scheme. HTTP is what does all the heavy lifting.<p>"M" is misleading because this protocol is designed for a lot more than mail. It also handles contacts and calendars, and I wouldn't be surprised if Fastmail made their file storage service accessible through JMAP as well.<p>What's even worse is that once you come up with a protocol that covers everything that Fastmail does, everyone and their dog will try to add more services to the protocol. Instant messaging? Got it. Collaborative editing a la Google Drive? No problem. And before you know it, the protocol is bloated as hell and you've basically reinvented HTTP.<p>Please don't try to do everything. Do one thing, do it well, and put a strict limit to the scope of the project for the time being. A few more minutes of battery life on a phone is not worth polluting the world with yet another example of massive scope creep. IMAP+SMTP using a stateless protocol would be cool, but anything more and I'm not sure.