[nicholassmith]

I read 'replacing email as' improving b2b communication tools, not 'replacing email'. Consumer email consumption works (aside from the spam problem) but its business emails that lead to sucky todo lists being passed around. That's a solvable and profitable problem.

[dkrich]

I think people underestimate the cost of switching users and how much people beyond a small scale will readily switch in the b2b space.

Despite some people opining about how email is broken, the fact is that people prefer its simplicity and universal access.

As a team lead I tried to start us on Asana which I use for personal projects and I think is a fantastic product. I assumed people would love it. To my surprise only a few actually signed up (reluctantly) and after two weeks the project was completely silent and people were emailing to ask questions or check for updates that I had already submitted to the Asana project. After asking them to check the project enough times I gave up and switched back to email.

[zdgman]

You could look to replace either it's all about what you see as the problem. Does your spouse email you your shopping list? Do you email yourself a to do list or do you write it down in something like Remember The Milk?

[D-Train]

I email myself my shopping list. I also email myself "Great Websites" that are now archived forever, and I can just go back to Gmail and search for it. I think I'm inefficient.