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HEY is trying to be the x-nth coming of email, and DHH is its messiah (I wonât get into that because it is not my beef).
Why am I mocking HEY? A thread.
Why am I mocking HEY? A thread.
HEY is suffering from the same, typical bullshit we see in a lot of tech launches today: an incomplete product whose hype is centered around a niche audience while simultaneously missing key features for its niche audience to even begin to really enjoy using the product.
The audience for HEY is described as everyone, but come the fuck on: the primary founderâs notoriety is sunk heavily in technologists and developers.
You know? Nerdfluencers
.
You know? Nerdfluencers
.
Like Sparrow (and Gmail before it), theyâre using artificial scarcity through an invite system to build hype, buy time, and hide the fact that the platform isnât the panacea it is advertised to be.
What person has the time to migrate _all their accounts_ to a new, [at]hey[dot]com email address?
No one. Not one. Nerds especially know better. Thus, not having custom domains available at launch is an immediate bullet to HEYâd knees.
No one. Not one. Nerds especially know better. Thus, not having custom domains available at launch is an immediate bullet to HEYâd knees.
You canât really get a sense of what HEY offers unless you have a lot of active traffic to it, meaning you need to establish it as your primary email.
âJust use an auto-forward,â right? Because thatâs the solution: email every-fucking-where.
âJust use an auto-forward,â right? Because thatâs the solution: email every-fucking-where.
Itâs not just inconvenience! Itâs a modern security nightmare.
The great thing about a custom domain is that the owner can point its mail exchange records anywhere and keep complete control of their domain and identity.
The great thing about a custom domain is that the owner can point its mail exchange records anywhere and keep complete control of their domain and identity.
Itâs why @Fastmail and @ProtonMail are easy transitions. Launching without that key feature for a niche audience like nerdfluencers is nuts, they canât really use the platform despite any cool inteligent marketing for âImbox.â
You canât have an âImboxâ without stuff in it.
At that point, itâs just a fucking box.
At that point, itâs just a fucking box.
I will give them credit that tracker blocking is cool, etc. But itâs easy to block trackers when you arenât getting mail there anyway. 
I donât think HEY will fail entirely, but it definitely wonât reach any type of critical mass.
The pricing, too, is on point with G Suite, but literally G Suite is a _suite_ of products reaching much farther outside of Gmail.
The value prospect for non-nerdfluencer users just isnât fucking there.
The value prospect for non-nerdfluencer users just isnât fucking there.
