Email Is Still a Craft — Even If We Pretend It Isn’t

I remember when email was simply an inbox.

You connected to the internet, downloaded your messages, and disconnected again. Broadband made everything faster and permanently connected, but the fundamentals of email did not really change. It remained a subject line, a message, a reply, and a record.

What changed was the context around it.

In corporate environments, Microsoft had already embedded email deeply through Exchange and Outlook. Shared calendars, global address lists and centralised servers made email feel institutional. It was no longer just a communication tool; it became part of the operating system of office life.

BlackBerry did not invent mobile email, but it made real-time, push-based email mainstream in business. It did not alter the structure of email itself, but it changed how it fit into daily life. You were no longer tied to a desk to check your inbox; messages arrived instantly, wherever you were. Email stopped being something you visited and became something that followed you.

Around the same time, Google reshaped expectations with Gmail. Search replaced rigid folder hierarchies. Generous storage limits reduced the need to delete. Conversation threading changed how exchanges were read and organised. Webmail stopped feeling temporary and began to feel permanent.

Over time, both Microsoft and Google pushed the shift further by folding email into broader productivity suites. The inbox ceased to stand alone and became the gateway to something larger.

You were no longer buying an inbox. You were buying storage, chat, meetings, AI features and identity systems. Email became the login to an ecosystem.

And somewhere within that evolution, its role quietly shifted.

When the inbox became background noise

For many people today, email is where receipts land, where password resets arrive, and where notifications accumulate. It has become a clearing house for digital residue.

Real-time chat feels more dynamic. Video calls feel more decisive. Collaborative documents feel more modern. Email, by contrast, can seem slow and procedural.

But that perception says more about our habits than about the tool itself.

Email as Craft

When I describe email as a craft, I do not mean that nostalgically. I mean that it demands intention.

A good email requires a clear subject line, a structured argument, a considered tone, and a deliberate close. It asks you to think before you send.

Chat encourages reaction. Email encourages reflection.

In my day job, collaborative tools are essential. I rely on messaging and quick calls throughout the day, and I cannot imagine modern team work without them. But in my blogging life, email remains my core tool. It is where conversations begin, where agreements are shaped, and where decisions are documented.

Email creates record, context and accountability in a way that few other tools do. Its slower pace is not a flaw. It is a discipline.

When email stopped being the product

Most business “email” products are no longer sold as standalone services. They are bundled into suites: Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Zoho Workplace. The inbox is now one surface within a much larger commercial offering.

This raises a practical question. Do most small and medium businesses genuinely need everything that now comes attached to business email? AI meeting summaries, layered chat environments, whiteboards, automation engines and dozens of integrations can be useful. But they can also become subscription gravity rather than genuine productivity.

Modern software marketing quietly implies that if you are not using the full stack, you are behind. Sometimes that is true. Often it is not. Productivity is rarely about the number of tools available. It is more often about clarity of use.

Why standalone email still exists

The continued existence of standalone providers also says something. Services like Fastmail do not sell sprawling ecosystems. They sell email.

I use Fastmail because, in some respects, it offers a more focused and refined email experience than the bundled options attached to larger platforms. That choice is deliberate. It is not about rejecting ecosystems; it is about recognising that sometimes the core tool deserves attention in its own right.

If email had truly become just a notification layer, standalone providers would have faded away. The fact that they continue to attract users suggests that for many people, email remains a primary instrument rather than a background utility.

The Amazon WorkMail signal

One example I find particularly revealing is that Amazon offers Amazon WorkMail at all. Amazon is not primarily a productivity company; it builds infrastructure. The decision to provide a restrained email service suggests there is still demand for email as a foundational layer rather than as a feature showcase.

WorkMail focuses on email, calendar and directory services, with the option to expand into AWS if needed. It does not attempt to redefine communication or dominate collaboration. Its existence implies that for some organisations, email remains a core service in its own right.

If standalone email had truly become obsolete, a company like Amazon would have little reason to maintain it.

Speed isn’t the same as productivity

Years ago, the British journalist Caitlin Moran wrote in The Times about how email, compared with the intrusiveness of a ringing phone, felt civilised. Messages, she said, queued up in silent peace “like swans.”

That image still resonates.

A phone call demands attention. A chat notification interrupts. An alert insists on being handled immediately. Email waits.

In a culture that increasingly equates speed with productivity, that restraint can feel unfashionable. But speed and productivity are not the same thing.

I am not anti-ecosystem. I am deeply embedded in Apple’s world, and I use collaborative tools daily in professional settings. Those systems work well. But when it comes to thinking clearly, writing carefully and communicating with intent, I continue to reach for email.

Email did not disappear. It was repositioned.

For some, it became a dumping ground for receipts and alerts. For others, it remains a disciplined space for serious communication.

Email is still a craft. We simply stopped recognising it as one.