Microsoft and Google are engaging in an escalating battle to create the most powerful email client. The competition is driving new levels of innovation and, regardless of which company triumphs, email users will be winners. This recent Digits blog in the Wall Street Journal specifically talks about Google’s efforts to allow third-party developers to expand on Gmail—elevating it from an email program to a full blown platform.

Whether it is an email inbox, the news feed from Facebook, or the tweets from favorite Twitter users, people are having to deal with ever increasing volumes of information. We absolutely need new levels of innovation to help us cope with information overload and an onslaught of updates, so I applaud Google and Microsoft for continuing to push the envelope on the email front.