Ultimately, our plan for Thinbox is that the number mapping will be connected to more information than just an e-mail address.
A path we're considering that might have some more obvious use cases: a mapping of phone numbers -> mailing addresses. That way in your mobile postcard app, you can choose a friend to mail a card to, even if you don't have their mailing address in your phone. The first-time recipient would automatically get a text message along the lines of: "Steve would like to send you something. What is your mailing address?"
This raises some questions for me.
I can't try it out, since I am not in the US, but what is the exact explanation you give in that initial text?
If i receive an SMS that says "Steve would like to send you something. What is your email address?" I might reply because I am happy for Steve to email me things.
However that does not necessarily mean that I want to allow anyone other than Steve to email me from that point forward... would be a nasty surprise if you dont explain this clearly.
You do know that this has been standard functionality on all the US carriers for years anyway, right? There is absolutely nothing useful about this service. One quick Google search can get you the specific domain to email to for any carrier. They all follow the same format, [number]@carrier.com. This service is about 5 years behind the times. I've been emailing to SMS since before the iPhone.
For sending text messages that is correct. It may not be clear enough that the purpose of e-mailing a [NUMBER]@thinbox.com address is not to send an SMS to someone's phone. The initial SMS is just a way to ASK for the recipient's e-mail address and create a mapping that works for future e-mails. So essentially it just couples two separate types of "addresses" for a person into a single address.
Also, after your number is coupled with an e-mail address, you will not receive any more SMS messages. E-mails sent to [NUMBER]@thinbox.com will automatically be sent to the e-mail address provided
A path we're considering that might have some more obvious use cases: a mapping of phone numbers -> mailing addresses. That way in your mobile postcard app, you can choose a friend to mail a card to, even if you don't have their mailing address in your phone. The first-time recipient would automatically get a text message along the lines of: "Steve would like to send you something. What is your mailing address?"