In reference to Ximian Evolution, The FuzzyBlog! wonders, "Why is it that things that try and look and act like Outlook end up being the same type of slothful, buggy pigs like Outlook itself?"

He wonders if Chandler will also have the same fate, even "Is this just the natural end point for products that try and emulate Microsoft Apps?"

I wonder, is it worth the risk and time to create an application that behaves much differently?  There are an awful lot of users out there that would find and Outlook-ish style application approachable.

I think that in the end, competition in the software space both hurts and helps innovation.  It helps because competitors must both keep pace with each other *AND* find a new feature that beats the other guy.  But, it can also hurt because no feature can be counted on to be totally compatible or integratable (easily) with other systems.  Proprietary systems often lack just enough ease of integration to either require their consulting services or ensure entrenchment once the infiltration has been made into the IT infrastructure.

Still, it seems that complete refactorings come along every several years that summarize, in one place, all or a representation of all, of the advancements that had been made in the preceeding technological generation.

It's the pain of the early adopters all over again.  The late adopters may not gain competitive advantage, but they are more likely to have offerings available that are easier to integrate, either by design of the software system or by the sheer availability of service organizations (VARs, consultants) competing in that space.

Looking back through my journal entries, I notice several instances, over a span of three or four years, where I record a desire to better express myself and not hold emotions and feelings in.  Sad to say, I often found that those unexpressed feelings were ones of frustration, disatisfaction, and unfulfillment.

The big question seems to be: How can you express feelings like that effectively to either friends (who tire of hearing about them) or people who are the object of your frustration?  I'm not great at conflict, so this makes it tough.

It's certainly not healthy, but it's very typical of my lifestyle to bottle up feelings.  Blogging and journaling have been an outlet for that expressing myself, but to an unknown, unseen audience.