Finally got around to trying that Mailbox email app today. You know, the one that everyone was on the waiting list for because the company’s servers couldn’t cope with demand if they let the masses in.

As you probably know, Dropbox bought Mailbox for some ridiculous amount of money, the scaling problems got sorted, and as of mid-April the velvet rope has been lifted and we’re all allowed to use the damn thing.

Mailbox didn’t suit me at all, it’s Gmail only and it doesn’t ‘do’ portrait view. That means I can’t work with the email accounts I use every day and I can’t thumb-type with my big hands in their most comfortable position.

Were I a happy hack, or techblog commenter, those two failings alone would be enough to launch the invective troll-rocket of a blistering attack on a crap app, frothy company, and overpriced acquisition – doesn’t work for me, must be worst thing ever.

But Mailbox is actually rather good. It’s a kind of client lite for people who hate email and those folk who want to stay up-to-date but dig a UX that’s all hey-let’s-deal-with-that-shit-later. No doubt both segments love those long and short swipe actions that whizz work away from their timeline.

You see, the genius of Mailbox is its ability to convince the user they’re being productive when all they’re really doing is deferring tasks and avoiding action.

And that is the essence of Management.