The loss of useful information

I am quite frustrated with the way gmail web application deals with email created in response to an email.  If you reply or reply to all it does not put information into the email to show who was on the previous email or when it was sent, etc.  If you forward an email it does.   You also cannot have both a reply and a forward email at the same time.  

I often get an email that has 5 of the 6 people that need to be involved included.  I want to reply to all, add person number six, let everyone see when the previous email was sent and who was involved.   

It is also common to need to both forward and separately reply to an email.  I would like to be able to start both of those emails and drop in the relevant additional information as I collect it.   The one or the other limitation makes it necessary to track emails I need to send in a separate list. 

To me this is logical, methodical, basic functioning available in email since the last century.   I continue to be puzzled on how to create a workflow pattern when basic operational functioning disappears. 

Slow Learner

I am sure this blog provides all the documentation needed to confirm I am a slow learner. I don't think being a slow learner is inherently bad.  I generally don't make the same mistakes repeatedly because I fail to be observant.  I am a slow learner because I don't accept a new piece of information without scrutiny.  I need to test the new concept. I need to repeat the operation with controlled parameters. I need to see the same result repeated.  This is where my slow learning and Google's continuos changes and varied contextual interfaces clash.  I can never seem to get through testing and come out with some new learned knowledge.

Yesterday I got a step closer to understanding the phone portion of my android phone. Pick the phone icon. It goes to a dialer page. My (most) recent call is shown at the top of the page. I hit the green phone icon and sometimes it calls that person and sometimes it calls someone else. I finally figured out that (as I noted) this is the dialer page. Even though the top of the screen is filled with a name, number, and picture showing my most recent phone call this is not associated with the green phone icon. The phone icon is associated with the dialer. It is going to call the last number I dialed (which is not displayed). It is not going to reestablish a connection with the last person to whom I was connected.   I still have more testing to do.  Next to resolve is if it is my last outgoing call no matter whether I entered it via the dialer.  But then again perhaps I will just avoid this interface and it's accidental call potential since chances are I would not get this figured out before the next operating system update. I am a slow learner.