Monday, March 11, 2013

The end of email?

Lots of political things I should be writing tonight, but I don't feel like it.

According to a press story, Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour has declared the email  passe, based on his children's views. Looking at my own daughters, I suspect that he is right. 

All forms of communication compete with each other. There is only so much time. While, as I have argued, Facebook is well past its peak, it occupies a place once occupied by email, as does Twitter. But the killer app is mobile.

I will write something on this in more detail later.  For the moment, I just note that I wish my girls would answer my emails or their Facebook messages.

Do you know, it's getting to the point that I might have to do something very old fashioned and actually pick up the phone and call them! How very strange. Who would have thought it? Physical conversation! 

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I expect that when Fahour becomes MD of Bunnings Wharehouse he will announce that employing a builder is passe, and that everyone should do it themselves.

Impartial opinion; everyone needs mine :)

kvd

Jim Belshaw said...

Nicely put, kvd! He was selling Post's new secure service. Still, it remains an interesting point.

Anonymous said...

Quote: This technology is likely to improve over the next 5 – 10 years to the point where relevance is assessed not only by your profile and interests but your actual needs. - taken from http://theconversation.edu.au/with-teens-over-facebook-how-social-networks-will-have-to-change-to-survive-12734

It made me smile to think anyone still was naive enough to offer a prediction with that sort of timeframe for this sort of activity.

And the other thing I wanted to mention, Jim, is that your own two lovely offspring are probably now too old to be a reliable source of what's trending.

kvd

Winton Bates said...

It amazes me how popular texting has become - given the difficulty involved in typing when you have 26 letter in the alphabet and only use ten buttons.

It would be a lot easier to just pick up the phone and call, as you suggest. The main advantage of texting seems to be cost.
When I get a text message I tend to phone back, rather than reply by text.

An app to convert voice into text would make it easier for people like me to send text messages. But the only times I would prefer to receive a text rather than human voice is when I would rather not talk to the person sending the message (e.g. when they are selling lottery tickets).

Jim Belshaw said...

That's true, kvd, so far as my lovely daughters are concerned. However, and I think that this is a key point, the young don't actually determine what technology will survive and for how long even though they may influence its start. They are not that important in market terms. Now there's a challenge for you.!

I think that's an age thing, Winton. I'm with you. But the advantage of sms is that it's quick and convenient convenient and can be done without disturbing others.



Anonymous said...

Well, I won't argue your point if you are talking about coal and iron ore to China - but if you speak of 'market terms' vis a vis innovative technology I'd suggest it seems to start with tweeners and teens and uni students.

And its first death knell is adoption be 30,40s; its second by 'oldies'; its last by tacky monetisation by the likes of Murdoch and IBM, Microsoft. By which time the teens are already 'into' the next AFTER the next trend.

Legacy used to be what you left your kids; now it's software discarded by youth when they hear their parents singing praise.

kvd

ps Winton: read about predictive text completion; 10's all you need I think.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jim

Just for posterity I would record this link:

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/time-to-kill-the-email-signoff-20130314-2g1xs.html

- regarding how to actually sign off on emails. It is worth a quich look at the attached poll of possible 'regards'; 26000 vote responders would indicate the subject is of some interest.

kvd

Jim Belshaw said...

On young adapters, kvd, you have defined a process in which the young start a trend, but then have the trend taken over by others! So who determines what happens?

The young are not technophiles. That belongs to older age cohorts! When you are looking at major technology shifts as compared to the latest fad, you have to look at the total pattern.

There actually isn't a lot of new technology around, simply on-going shifts in what we have.

And, depending on circumstances, I end my emails in many ways. But, because of circumstances, I am developing an undying hatred for the word cheers!