At 31 Mar 2008 19:25:52 -0700 Kurt wrote:

> > IMAP is much easier to deal with when using multiple devices withthe
same e-
> > mail account(s), since changes made on one device (deletions, marking e-
> > mail as read, etc.) are reflected on all devices, eliminating the need
the
> > deal with the same e-mail twice.
>
> But iPhone is too easy. Maybe other phones...

What does that mean? If you delete a POP e-mail on your iPhone are you
saying the deletion magically propagates to your desktop? A POP e-mail
read on the iPhone is marked read on the desktop? With IMAP, sure (just
like with any other device with IMAP support)- with POP? Nope.


POP is hampered by design- it's from a day when people had one computer and
phones were bolted to walls. You pull the e-mail from the server and can
either leave a copy behind or not. That generally means dealing with the
same e-mails (at least) twice, since mobile devices are usually set to
leave a copy behind so your desktop can access all your e-mail. So, any e-
mails read or deleted on the mobile, are still waiting for you on your
desktop.

With IMAP, if you delete a bunch of e-mails on your phone, they WON'T be
waiting on your desktop to be read (and deleted) again. E-mails read on
the mobile will already be marked read on the desktop. If you use a
variety of desktops, laptops, and mobiles with the same e-mail accounts,
IMAP makes life a lot easier.


> Some email services also
> still do not support IMAP.


True. A perfectly good reason to change e-mail providers, IMO. ;-)