It's 2014. Are we there yet?

[Mike Cardwell]

* on the Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 03:35:20PM -0400, Robert J. Hansen wrote:

>> And when those students finish University and get jobs, do they use
>> Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat at work, or do they use Email at work?
> 
> Right now, Microsoft Sharepoint is in use at 80% of Fortune 500 firms.
> Normally it's used to set up internal social networking for the company.
>  Some firms are adopting it halfheartedly, and other firms are seeing it
> significantly cut into email usage.  The trend is upwards.

I'm pretty confident that for every firm using sharepoint as their primary
means of communication, there are hundreds if not thousands using email
instead. And each of those Fortune 500 firms are almost certainly also
using email too. Email isn't just a communication mechanism, it's also the
basis of your online identity.

> Whether I think this is wise makes no difference to whether I see this
> happening.  I think it's unwise, and I see it happening in droves.

That's not what I'm seeing at all. I see people using instant chat protocols
for instant chat, and I see people using Email when it is appropriate for
them to use Email.

>> I don't find, "kids don't use email for casual conversations" to be a very
>> convincing argument that email is on its way out.
> 
> I find it to be an overwhelming one.  The future has spoken, and it
> thinks email is for old folks and fuddy-duddies.  No technology can be
> said to be ascendant, or even keeping its market share, if future
> generations are not signing on to use it.

The future has spoken. Kids know about email. They know what it's for.
They use it when it's appropriate to use it. They use it more the older
they get. the World is only becoming more and more reliant on it as time
goes on. I am 100% confident that the future very firmly has Email, or
something very similar in it.

> Will email still be around in twenty years?  Sure.  But we still have
> Gopher servers today, too.

Gopher was replaced by a similar but better protocol (HTTP). I would be
happy to see Email replaced by a similar but better protocol. It will
probably still be called Email though. I think it's more likely that
various Email protocols will be extended and refined rather than an
outright replacement though.

-- 
Mike Cardwell  https://grepular.com https://emailprivacytester.com
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