Why is Apple so reluctance to fully embrace labels for Mail (and objects in the Finder, too)?

Folders are holdover from the early days of the graphical user interface. Don't get 'me wrong; they work so I'm not knocking them.

However, labels are more versatile. Normally, an item can only go into one folder unless you copy it to multiple folders -- which is a waste of space and a pain to manage. However, a single item can have many labels. This works better with Spotlight and Smart Folders.

So, c'mon, Apple, go ahead and jump onto the label bandwagon. (Thanks to J. Scott Anderson for the idea for today's column.)

-- Dennis Sellers