Yet another claim that e-mail is dead
- November 15th, 2007
- 9 Comments
“E-mail is so dead,” said the Slate writer, “that I have to tell the world how old I feel.”
Seemingly every other day, we read studies suggesting that e-mail is dying, not with a bang, but with a whimper. Kids have all but abandoned it, preferring IM and Facebook and txt messaging. So it goes, why wait minutes for a reply when I can send a txt to, say, John, and get a reply in seconds. Or maybe a Facebook status update—If anyone knows where my phone is, IM me—is what’s needed.
E-mail is dead, long live e-mail.
The Death of E-Mail [Slate]
exapted (Who am I?)
9 months ago
SMS will die before email does. Facebook and Myspace are too proprietary. Unless everyone joins the same social network silo, we will need some standard way of contacting each other, such as You@Domain. So the claim that e-mail is dead lacks perspective. Email won’t die unless and until there is actually something to replace it. Perhaps e-mail will converge with instant messaging, then social networking, then voice, etc.
Speedmaster (Who am I?)
9 months ago
I’m curious to see where this goes. I know that cell phones are the center of live for kids now.
hannibalchew (Who am I?)
9 months ago
If email dies, then where are we going to get our lotto notifications, mortgage rates, and penis enlargement pills from!?
what_a_joke
9 months ago
I believe it. At work we text each other all the time. We don’t even publish emails anymore. We ask customers to text us. I believe the .gov is moving in this direction too. The White House didn’t lose those 5 mil emails, they were just sent as text messages.
Reply
Carl (Who am I?)
9 months ago
Email isn’t going anywhere and it certainly isn’t going to be “replaced” by text messaging. Text messages and social networks are just another way to communicate, they aren’t an email replacement. God help it if it does, lord knows an entire generation of kids has a problem being able to type a complete paragraph because all they know is how to type in text message shorthand which is the l33t speak of that generation.
Sach (Who am I?)
9 months ago
Phase out email at the office or work place…..
http://tinyurl.com/2acens
exapted (Who am I?)
9 months ago
Sorry, but this is mindless!
Obviously there will eventually be a standard of communication that combines the benefits of all of the above. XMPP anyone?
Do you think SMS is going to outlive email? If so, you are an idiot.
Email has many flaws, but its strength is that it stores your messages and is universal. Text messaging and IM are fast, but don’t give you the ability to save your data. Social networks are separate silos, they are not standards, so they don’t give you the ability to contact someone directly and immediately who is not already a member.
We’re not all going to communicate on proprietary little silos, it is not even feasible to connect everyone this way.
Chuck (Who am I?)
9 months ago
I just can see texting legal agreements, contracts, NDA’s etc.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but kids don’t work for a living.
wooden serving trays (Who am I?)
9 months ago
If email dies, then where are we going to get our lotto notifications, mortgage rates, and penis enlargement pills from!?