Arguing the merits of an empty Inbox
There's an interesting thread developing between the Slacker Manager and Mike Belshe (the developer of Lookout) about why emptying your Inbox may not be a desirable or necessary thing in this day of powerful desktop search tools. Bren, the Slacker Manager, says that Lookout makes filing an extraneous exercise. Mike points out the time (and dollar) savings gained by not filing e-mail.
I don't agree with them on this point. Yes, Lookout has helped my flatten my folder hierarchy from a 5-level-deep nightmare to a three-level structure that I one day hope to reduce down to a single set of folders. I can find whatever I'm looking for without burrowing around now but old habits die hard.
And, while I appreciate the sense of “being loved” Bren gets from his full Inbox, I prefer the sense of satisfaction I get from getting “In to empty” on a regular basis (averaging three times a week).
What do you think? Do search tools make filing less important?