[hnyc]

> POP, SMTP and IMAP would seem contrary the whole idea of a public stream of email communication

I disagree. I believe it would create for easier access to a public stream of email communication, in particular to the person who sent the email. Sure, there's an easy way to get a notification when one gets an email, but how about replying to it? If one could reply to the email from the notification email (and see the contents of the email), that would be going towards a better solution (in my opinion). But even better would be POP, SMTP, and IMAP support, for the easiest way of getting emails, checking them, sending them, replying to them, etc.

POP, SMTP, and IMAP would not remove the web access and the public viewing of all emails, it would extend what has already been created.