Gmail Adds 'Undo' Send Button
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Google, Gmail, Undo, Send, email | Themes: The Internet, Software
When Google launched Beer Goggles a while back we figured it was a great idea. Make someone do math before they can send the email. Unfortunately there was a couple of catches. A lot of the time you send emails you regret when you’re perfectly sober. You could answer those five math questions in the allotted time no problem and soldier on with your potential damaging correspondence. 
Today the Labs team released another tool that's supposed to help users during their day to day lives of sending emails that may or may not be detrimental to their careers, relationships, friendships or any other kind of ships: an undo send button. While it seems like a fantastically wonderful concept, in reality it’s a little bit stunted. It basically delays the sending of your mail for five seconds, giving you a little time to think.
Sure five seconds might be enough time for you to fix potentially blonde mistakes like forgetting to attach a file to a mail that reads, “See attached,” but not a lot of people are so quick on the draw that they’d make it to the undo button in five seconds. Okay most days I’d be fine, but working weird hours means I’m often awake when I shouldn’t be. Five seconds at 3 a.m. is not going to help me. We’d like to see this with a timer your can set yourself. Anywhere up to 20 seconds should cover everyone's needs. Why not?
Nitpicking aside, we prefer this option to Beer Goggles. Check out the full post on the Official Gmail blog by clicking here and activate Undo Send by clicking Labs under the settings tab.
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here is more info @ Fud
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php? [...] 2&Itemid=1
ima dude, i love me some jokes, but this is pretty unprofessional.
I'd rather it delayed by a few minutes.
Funny thing is, I was just thinking about such a feature a couple days ago. It's pretty easy to send a business email and forget to attach a file that was requested.
However, 5 seconds is ridiculous. It isn't going to be enough time for someone to click the Undo button out of remorse. But most of all, if anyone has any knowledge of the internet, they'll know that 5 seconds sometimes isn't enough time to even load a webpage during peak bandwidth hours.
As an example. Here at work, with a T-1 line, I generally click on a Tomshardware link, then alt-tab to something else to wait for the 30 seconds it takes to download all the Ads on Tom's before the article I actually wanted to see appears.
So, if I had to wait 30 seconds for the page to load in the first place, I'd miss the 5 second rule for the Undo button.
I think it might be a misquote. 5 seconds is too short. Maybe it's 5 minutes?
why can't they make it that you can just recall the mail when ever? just send the mail when they hit send, but then make it so they can recall any of their last 5 messages or something, if the receiver has checked their mail then too bad, but otherwise they'ed never know. it would be cool if you could know if your message has been read too, but this may lead to privacy/bandwidth issues
why can't they make it that you can just recall the mail when ever? just send the mail when they hit send, but then make it so they can recall any of their last 5 messages or something, if the receiver has checked their mail then too bad, but otherwise they'ed never know. it would be cool if you could know if your message has been read too, but this may lead to privacy/bandwidth issues
return receipt has been around for a long time. there's really no reason, technically, why unread mail cancellation/retrieval could not be implemented
@eklipz330: Sorry to see you weren't happy with the joke but I never aim to be unprofessional and I don't feel I was. Cheers for your feedback.
5 minutes at least.
LOL, a redhead talking down a blonde.
@Pei-Chen: A natural blonde talking down her own kind. That's the kind of class you can't buy.
@Pei-Chen: A natural blonde talking down her own kind. That's the kind of class you can't buy.
You a kinda a traitor then. Or a King David style scheme against the redhead.
Please, I prefer the term turncoat.
you people complaining about the blonde joke need to take your limp wrists away from the keyboard for a while.
@JMcEntegart
I like the proposed idea of setting the time delay for yourself.
I would like to have time delays with labels: like if I'm [drunk] emailing it should be 10 hours, if I'm [angry] emailing 4 hours, and applying for [jobs] 2 hours.
@coldmast: That's an awesome idea but how would you set the label? If I was really angry I'd just say eff this and just set it to "happy-go-lucky" so I could send the damn email!
@eklipz330
@Pei-chen
for just a dollar a day, the price of a bad cup of coffee, you too can stand up for equality rights of the blondish. You'll start by receiving the picture & profile of your blond at which point you can decide to send them a pink netbook and a instructional guide on the computers and the internet, so they too can join the good fight.
I know quite a few people who are naturally blond. None of them are stupid, but in the odd case they do make a mistake they sometimes blame it on their blond hair -- as a joke. Seeing as the author is also a confessed natural blond can't it be inferred that she was merely making a joke about her own past experiences.
@JMcEntegart
well then you're effed?
I wish I had even a 5 second button that I could repeatedly use in real life, I'd just have to keep all my answers short
@coldmast: au contraire, I never forgot the attachment pre dye-job. Ever since I went "auburn" I send emails that say, "Check it out, lads!" but forget the link. This happens at least once a day.
ima dude, i love me some jokes, but this is pretty unprofessional.
No, it's just you being over-sensitive. Nothing wrong with making a story a little more entertaining to read.
@JMcEntegartwell then you're effed?I wish I had even a 5 second button that I could repeatedly use in real life, I'd just have to keep all my answers short
Buy yourself a Sands of Time dagger and walk down a dark New York alley.
@Pei-chen,
I may be stupid, but I'm not crazy
@JMcEntegart,
Madam, I stand corrected.
Now I need a create conspiracy theory that Blonds feign ditsy at times to lure others into a false sense of security, when in fact they are all evil geniuses! mawh ha ha ha!
thanks Gmail, now I can give all my emails the Care-Bear-Stare
5-4-3-2-1