<s>
Oddpost	B-Application
was	O
a	O
pay-for	O
webmail	B-Protocol
service	O
,	O
in	O
2002	O
,	O
that	O
pioneered	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
JavaScript	B-Language
to	O
mimic	O
a	O
desktop	O
mail	O
application	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
notable	O
foray	O
into	O
using	O
Ajax	B-General_Concept
methodologies	O
for	O
webmail	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ajax	B-General_Concept
techniques	O
minimized	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
data	O
sent	O
during	O
an	O
email	O
session	O
by	O
sending	O
"	O
Datapacks	O
"	O
instead	O
of	O
reloading	O
the	O
whole	O
interface	B-Application
on	O
every	O
click	O
like	O
a	O
traditional	O
webmail	B-Protocol
service	O
(	O
Hotmail	B-Operating_System
,	O
AOL	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oddpost	B-Application
created	O
an	O
interface	B-Application
much	O
like	O
the	O
traditional	O
3-pane	O
view	O
used	O
by	O
many	O
desktop	O
software	O
applications	O
(	O
namely	O
Microsoft	O
Outlook	O
,	O
Apple	O
's	O
Mail	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Entourage	O
,	O
Mozilla	O
Thunderbird	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oddpost	B-Application
also	O
had	O
the	O
design	O
philosophy	O
of	O
making	O
the	O
interface	B-Application
invisible	O
,	O
where	O
unread	O
message	O
headers	O
were	O
bolded	O
,	O
so	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
need	O
for	O
an	O
unread	O
message	O
icon	O
next	O
to	O
each	O
message	O
;	O
sub	O
folders	O
were	O
indented	O
under	O
the	O
parent	O
,	O
so	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
little	O
ant	O
trail	O
connecting	O
each	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
excerpt	O
from	O
a	O
2003	O
interview	O
with	O
Ethan	O
Diamond	O
,	O
Oddpost	B-Application
's	O
co-founder	O
and	O
then	O
president	O
,	O
explained	O
this	O
minimalist	O
approach	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
made	O
extensive	O
use	O
of	O
these	O
ideas	O
in	O
Gmail	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
launched	O
two	O
years	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oddpost	B-Application
was	O
also	O
known	O
for	O
its	O
humorous	O
blog	O
entries	O
about	O
feature	O
additions	O
,	O
bug	O
fixes	O
,	O
and	O
random	O
musings	O
about	O
Oddpost	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
disadvantages	O
of	O
Oddpost	B-Application
were	O
seen	O
to	O
be	O
that	O
it	O
required	O
Windows	O
and	O
Internet	O
Explorer	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
it	O
lacked	O
mail	O
filters	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
secure	O
email	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Oddpost	B-Application
was	O
purchased	O
by	O
Yahoo	B-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
on	O
July	O
9	O
,	O
2004	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
their	O
Yahoo	B-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
14	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
Yahoo	B-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
Mail	O
started	O
letting	O
some	O
users	O
register	O
to	O
beta	O
test	O
the	O
new	O
Yahoo	B-Application
!	I-Application
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Oddpost	B-Application
servers	O
have	O
been	O
shut	O
down	O
,	O
however	O
existing	O
Oddpost	B-Application
customers	O
were	O
able	O
to	O
keep	O
their	O
Oddpost	B-Application
email	O
addresses	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
Yahoo	B-Application
!	I-Application
.	O
</s>
