Joss Crowcroft on the noreply mailbox practice:

Hey asshole, what if I want to reply? It astounds me that in 2011, startups and companies are sending out automated emails with noreply email addresses. It basically says to the recipient:

“I’m not interested in hearing from you by email, regardless of whether email is better or easier for you. I just don’t respect you enough to take the risk that a dozen people might reply and insult me.” […]

So I’ve given you my email address. I’ve given you the permission to contact me directly, via the medium I check more than anything (nasty habit, I know.) And this is how you repay me?

Maybe this make sense for big company like google. Their employee to user ratio just doesn’t scale. But I don’t understand why would a start up eliminate the chance to listen to their users.