Fastmail - app passwords

[lpn]

Originally Posted by TenFour

Not so sure about that since almost everyone is using a smartphone and in most cases they use whatever the default email app is that comes with the phone, and that is not the Fastmail app.

Indeed, there are some advantages of using the stock apps -- replying or forwarding from another account that is with another provider, less tracking and analytics (in the case of Mail.app) than when using provider apps. Of course, there are advantages using the provider apps too, but that is mostly when one has accounts only with one particular provider.

[xyzzy]

Originally Posted by somdcomputerguy

I think a Support question Ticket or something is in order here.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, been there, done that. Existing accounts are grandfathered in. Restriction only applies to new accounts.

[pjk]

Originally Posted by digp

Fastmail support has also sunk really badly. This is not the only example. Giving out incorrect information.

Confirmed.

Thinking about looking elsewhere. Been a user for 10 years. Sigh.

[pjk]

Originally Posted by pjroutledge

Similar thing happening with Lastpass: http://emaildiscussions.com/showthread.php?t=78511

Maybe we're seeing a more general trend to encourage people to pay for services.

The software industry today is in a huge push to move towards a "continuous rental service" model rather than "purchasing software".

The software industry probably got their "inspiration" on this from the music industry, which used to sell "records, tapes and CD"s, and now sells "minutes of listening time on a per-device basis, access to which can be revoked at any time".

It's a recipe for user lock-in and minting money, and all these companies want to get in on that bonanza now. Digital technology has made it possible. It also goes hand-in-hand with personal data collection, under the guise of "fraud prevention".

The annual financial report from Adobe after they moved to this business model demonstrated quite clearly that this change was a huge financial bonanza for them. The industry won't let go of it now.

[pjk]

Originally Posted by placebo

This is my take as well. It's not so much that changing in the Basic plan was unethical; it was that removing such basic functionality comes across as kind of a jerk move on FastMail's part. Perhaps there are mitigating reasons that make the decision understandable, but my current perspective is that it's really just a way to get customers to pay for features they don't need (like large quotas) to get a basic one they do.

Fastmail has obviously been trying to increase their revenue for years now. First it was the deprecating of the legacy plans and cutting off the lower tiers. But they grandfathered the existing users and were very transparent about what they were doing so I didn't have a big issue with that.

Now they seem to make major changes without obvious notice to users, seemingly in many cases to manipulate them into paying more, or just driving them away. Transparency has gone in the toilet. My recent experience with their so-called "support" was abysmal. Nothing like the company I specifically adopted 10 years ago because of their open and attentive customer-service practices and quality technology.

I view these "sneaky" price increases like the now widespread practice of under-filling or shrinking the container size on longstanding, well-known food products, rather than "admit" via the price-tag on the shelf that you have actually increased your pricing/profit-margin.

[Berenburger]

Originally Posted by pjk

Fastmail has obviously been trying to increase their revenue for years now. First it was the deprecating of the legacy plans and cutting off the lower tiers. But they grandfathered the existing users and were very transparent about what they were doing so I didn't have a big issue with that.

Now they seem to make major changes without obvious notice to users, seemingly in many cases to manipulate them into paying more, or just driving them away. Transparency has gone in the toilet. My recent experience with their so-called "support" was abysmal. Nothing like the company I specifically adopted 10 years ago because of their open and attentive customer-service practices and quality technology.

I view these "sneaky" price increases like the now widespread practice of under-filling or shrinking the container size on longstanding, well-known food products, rather than "admit" via the price-tag on the shelf that you have actually increased your pricing/profit-margin.

Let Fastmail take an example to Tutanota.

[digp]

Edit: MeMail do appear to close accounts without explanation. I cannot recommend it.

[SideshowBob]

Originally Posted by pjk

Fastmail has obviously been trying to increase their revenue for years now. First it was the deprecating of the legacy plans and cutting off the lower tiers. But they grandfathered the existing users and were very transparent about what they were doing so I didn't have a big issue with that.

They didn't grandfather the member accounts.

[digp]

Revenue increase is understandable.