Two key bits from the first two paragraphs of the article:
"make it easier for other Internet applications to use information in your email"
"It will replace IMAP"
First one seems par for the course, the second one doesn't seem to be reflected in the Google blog post [1]. Certainly for the moment, thankfully, it looks like IMAP is staying:
"The Gmail API should not be used to replace IMAP for full-fledged email client access" [2]
"make it easier for other Internet applications to use information in your email"
"It will replace IMAP"
First one seems par for the course, the second one doesn't seem to be reflected in the Google blog post [1]. Certainly for the moment, thankfully, it looks like IMAP is staying:
"The Gmail API should not be used to replace IMAP for full-fledged email client access" [2]
[1] http://googleappsdeveloper.blogspot.com/2014/06/introducing-... [2] https://developers.google.com/gmail/api/