We are trying to make a PIM which is substantive enough and enticing enough to make people want to move to it from whatever they are currently using, which statistically is probably Microsoft Outlook. I’m not going to bash Outlook here. Suffice it to say that while feature-rich, it is very complex, which renders most of its functionality moot. Its information sharing features require use of Microsoft Exchange, a server-based product, which is both expensive and complex to administer. Exchange is overkill for small-to-medium organizations, which we think creates on opportunity we intend to pursue (as well of course as serving individual users)
So when a giant like Mitch Kapor jumps into the pool, it ought to get people’s attention. A lot of what he’s planning sounds a lot like a more complete Zoe, and that sounds really appealing. The linearity of email replaced by an organizational tool to pull out the threads, automagically collect the contacts, and extract the themes and context: it’s exciting stuff.
From the sound of it, it can run alongside Outlook until it outstrips it, since it will be open source and platform agnostic. I want to see the OS X and UNIX versions. Why should the Windows crowd have all the fun?