Show Notes
Ricardo Signes, Chief Engineer at Fastmail, explains why Gmail's email experience has become increasingly fragmented, and what it would take to actually fix the decades-old IMAP protocol that powers most of the internet. We dive deep into JMAP (the modern replacement Gmail won't adopt), privacy-by-design vs. encryption theater, and the hidden trade-offs between convenience and security that no one talks about. If you've noticed your email client feeling broken, this interview reveals why.
🔗 SOURCES & LINKS • Fastmail: https://fastmail.com • Fastmail Values Statement: https://fastmail.com/about/values • Cyrus IMAP/JMAP Server (open source): https://www.cyrusimap.org/ • JMAP Standard (RFC 8620): https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8620 • Web Push Standard (RFC 8030): https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8030 • Signal (for encrypted messaging): https://signal.org • Fastmail Data Transparency Report: https://fastmail.com/about/transparency
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 INTRO 00:01:36 WHAT DRAWS YOU TO FASTMAIL? 00:03:29 FASTMAIL VALUES & PHILOSOPHY 00:08:49 FASTMAIL TARGET USER 00:12:43 LACK OF NATIVE E2EE 00:16:16 WILL EMAIL EVER BE PRIVATE? 00:18:23 FASTMAIL E2EE OPTIONS 00:23:43 FASTMAIL CLIENT OPTIONS 00:26:18 FASTMAIL INTEGRATIONS 00:29:49 BEING GOOD INTERNET CITIZENS 00:33:13 BAD INTERNET CITIZENS 00:38:26 JMAP & OTHER EMAIL PROTOCOLS 00:48:15 REAL-WORLD BENEFITS OF JMAP 00:53:07 ISSUES WITH GMAIL ON IOS 00:56:06 LACK OF E2EE FOR EMAIL WITH ADP 00:57:29 DOES JMAP MAKE E2EE EASIER? 01:00:43 FASTMAIL + OPEN SOURCE 01:10:48 PROTECTIONS AGAINST BAD ACTORS 01:14:46 PHONE NUMBER REQUIREMENTS 01:22:55 AUSTRALIAN JURISDICTION 01:25:55 THE FASTMAIL TEAM 01:28:45 PRODUCTIVITY-FOCUSED EMAIL CLIENTS 01:34:27 FASTMAIL + IMAP 01:35:49 WHY THE NAME "FASTMAIL"? 01:38:27 IS JMAP WHY FASTMAIL IS SO FAST? 01:42:03 FASTMAIL'S IDEAL AVATAR + FUTURE PLANS 01:46:25 HOW TO FOLLOW RICARDO + FASTMAIL 01:48:03 OUTRO
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