AFTER a decade of using the same email application, the future caught up with me when I graduated to a new laptop with the latest hardware and operating system. My old emailer was not supported by this new system, so I had to look for a modern alternative. I had no idea what awaited me. For years I have been aware that people had difficulty sending and receiving email on the move, but I had never twigged why until I was forced to try a range of commercial offerings. Within days I became convinced that, with my outdated system, I was the only human able to email on the move, the only truly mobile worker on the planet.

My system allows me to dial in on a GSM phone from a train, taxi or car at speed - although above 120mph on continental trains, the channel can drop out due to Doppler shift. Routinely, I log on, send and download mail within 2.5 minutes. With the simplest of graphics, the interface keeps me posted on the initialisation of my modem, the acquisition of the channel, dialling out, modem interaction, logging on to my server, upload and download of messages, and logging off. At the end of the process, messages are presented plainly in black and white with local folders, icons and fonts that can be read with ease in poor lighting and when I am being vibrated by track, road or air turbulence. As a result, I never suffer motion sickness or eye strain. The product is simple to use, reliable, lean, mean and without frills, but very effective.

I can only assume that those responsible for the development of modern emailers have never stepped out of their laboratory or operated on anything other than the fastest of LAN pipes. They clearly do not understand the needs of those who travel and operate over narrow (9.6kbit/s) mobile pipes. Every system I have looked at has over-elaborate signalling protocols, a myriad of unnecessary and unwanted facilities for file synchronisation and more. Even worse, they have confusing status indicators and a lack of any dialogue tracking to indicate the progress of the call set-up, data communication and close-down process. More irritating still are the miniature icons, small text, choice of colour scheme and rendering, with pale blue on pastel blue, which make the interface very difficult to deal with when in motion. Poor lighting and vibration make the whole almost impossible to use. And there is generally little or no opportunity to customise any of these features. At a conservative estimate, my limited choice of new emailers offers me an operational slow-down to 30 per cent of my existing regime, with considerably more eyestrain, the potential for motion sickness, and far more clicks per message.

Looking at the current glut of software applications available for the PC, I can only assume the designers never talk to the customers. They seem to lack any appreciation of what customers require under operational conditions. So, once again, it looks like I will have to rip open another application and attack the source code to customise it for my needs. When I have finished, it will be plain and simple with big print, big icons and primary colours. Hopefully, it will also be as fast and effective as the product I am having to retire.

Peter Cochrane holds the Collier Chair for the Public Understanding of Science & Technology at the University of Bristol. His home page is:
http://cochrane.org.uk