Just a side question: I hardly ever delete emails (except for automatic reminders etc), and I always assumed that's the standard thing (I'm using gmail). But ionfish deletes emails, so I'm questioning my assumption.
I have in the past (when disk was a lot more expensive than it is now) deleted email that I was sure I'd never care about -- archives from projects that had concluded, for instance, and mostly consisted of "hey, can you come into my office for a minute" type stuff.
But I've never deleted sent messages. I pretty much have every message I've ever sent, minus a few here and there that perished due to hardware failure. This is mostly for CYA reasons but also just because it's a useful personal historical record.
I would be pretty suspicious if someone told me to go through my workstation and delete messages pertaining to a certain subject.
Although there are companies which, due to the legal climate they operate in, have information-destruction policies (basically keeping stuff for the amount of time legally required and NOT A DAY MORE), having a policy that's in effect all the time is a lot less suspect than requesting specific emails be destroyed.
I don't delete sent message either, but I do go through my inbox from time to time and clear out things I don't think I'll care about in the future. That may very well bite me in the ass later on, but that's why god invented backups.
Agreed, I've had email since I can remember and I'm only 21. Aside from them getting lost from formats, I have never deleted a genuine email.
Even with a piss poor search engine, it's better than my computer-dependent brain's attempt at memory. I've flat-out given up on remembering many things, I either have a note pad and pen or they end up on google Docs so I can retrieve them anywhere. (Edit: All I need is a good smartphone plan and Google Docs and Gmail can flat-out replace my need to remember anything)
Do you delete emails?