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Is email only for old people?
- Thread starter Blue Velvet
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pseudobrit
macrumors 68040
Since I've gotten a smartphone recently, I've found that a combination of e-mail, text and IM seems to work very well. Not everyone is available via IM all the time and sometimes you've got more to say than will fit in a text.
I've started using e-mail much more than before for personal communication since I've been able to read and compose away from a computer. Of course I am getting old; I can remember when e-mail was the exciting new thing.
I've started using e-mail much more than before for personal communication since I've been able to read and compose away from a computer. Of course I am getting old; I can remember when e-mail was the exciting new thing.
I do too. It's odd. And irrational. And I have no idea why I hate talking on the phone.
DeaconGraves
macrumors 65816
Ugh... that would just be terrible for several reasons.
- Paper trail is much more complicated with IM conversations (as opposed to e-mail). Not to mention that it is likely extremely difficult to keep certain parts of a conversation and eliminate more informal parts of the conversation.
- Doesn't anybody like to be out of touch occasionally? IM makes that near impossible since people can tell when you're online. At least with e-mails (and even texts!) you can choose to delay a response without someone thinking you're blowing them off.
- The work place would be much more hostile with everyone calling each other n00bs. 😉
takao
macrumors 68040
more complicated ? how ? such instant messanger services would be running over company owned servers just like email
actually it offers more paper trail than telephone 😉 which currently is use a lot more informal
DeaconGraves
macrumors 65816
I'm talking more about the separation of IM conversations. It's much easier to pull up the relevant e-mail to your topic than to search through a long IM conversation to get the one piece information you needed. I guess as IM improves there'll be better ways to do this, but I know people at the place where I used to work that would keep their IM conversations with someone up all day. IM was used pretty informally there, but I can only imagine how much they'd have to comb through to get to the thing they needed
And if IM programs already handle this, then just ignore my geezer ranting. 😛
Abstract
macrumors Penryn
No, he's just an old man trapped in a young man's body.
Sorry, young people don't email often anymore. Tis true.
I'm 27, but still a uni student. I have lots of 19-21 year old friends (because despite my age, knowing people in that age group is quite natural at uni), so I have a pretty good idea of what's going on.
Also, just because people are SMS'ing and "FaceBooking" more now, replacing email as the weapon of choice, doesn't mean English is going down the drain, or that we all speak in shorthand, l33t, or anything else. I write in full English sentences, and rarely use shorthand or abbreviation. It's just bad generalisation from old people who think email is much better. 🙄 What do you think really old people said when they found out that email was replacing handwritten letters for communication purposes?
wordmunger
macrumors 603
I've noticed a lot of people saying they use email for "business" and IM for everything else. Is this because email is better for business, or because business is run by old people who don't use IM?
As an "old person" (age 40), I'd be happy to try IMing if young people are more comfortable using that form. But it seems to me that it wouldn't be very good for business because of the difficulty of maintaining a record of what's been said.
As an "old person" (age 40), I'd be happy to try IMing if young people are more comfortable using that form. But it seems to me that it wouldn't be very good for business because of the difficulty of maintaining a record of what's been said.
Think email as letter, IM as telephone, surely email/letter is more official and can be use for serious cases.
Abstract
macrumors Penryn
I don't think "IM is for everything else."
Email is for business, IM is for when you're in front of a computer, but honestly, SMS for everything else. Also, I think IM makes sense for business as well, especially within a department. Me and other students at our office just leave Gmail open, and we can just Google chat if we need to reach someone in the office upstairs. 🙂
SMS is basically just email for those who don't access the internet via their mobiles (ie: 95% of people). Not everyone has embraced surfing the net from their mobile phone yet (and there has been no need to with the slow connection and high cost in some regions/countries), so SMS makes sense. With the price of mobile internet decreasing, and more people using it, I think email may catch on again. If you had unlimited internet like with an iPhone, then email and SMS are nearly identical, except SMS costs you money, while emails don't. The problem is that your friends also need to be techie and check their emails via their phones, just like they would check SMS. I don't think that will happen soon. 😱
In my experience, IM is an efficient killer. When I'm working, I will signup out from IM, even cut the ethernet cable to make myself out of the internet.
Generally, I have 2 computers, one for working, without internet connection, one for email, surfing, IM and anything else.
Generally, I have 2 computers, one for working, without internet connection, one for email, surfing, IM and anything else.
tobefirst ⚽️
macrumors 601
I help run the youth group at my church, and I am just about the only one, teen or adult, without a facebook account. That is the primary method of communication for teens today...at least mine. IM is up there, too.
Communication has sped up rapidly in the last 15 years. Email is often just too "slow" for most communicating purposes, it seems. Although, I don't personally see how it's any slower than facebook...but perhaps that means I'm showing my age.
I don't really like talking on the phone either. If I do, it's greeting>information>goodbye. I don't want to stay on the phone for 30 minutes. I've said that the girl who makes me want to spend hours on the phone will be the one I marry. I haven't found her yet. 🙂
Communication has sped up rapidly in the last 15 years. Email is often just too "slow" for most communicating purposes, it seems. Although, I don't personally see how it's any slower than facebook...but perhaps that means I'm showing my age.
I don't really like talking on the phone either. If I do, it's greeting>information>goodbye. I don't want to stay on the phone for 30 minutes. I've said that the girl who makes me want to spend hours on the phone will be the one I marry. I haven't found her yet. 🙂
In a lot of cases, it is probably the latter. One of the things that would be so valuable ("would be," since my work doesn't use it) about IM would be being able to see who is at their desk, or available, or whatever. That could be a huge annoyance, though, too, I suppose.
floriflee
macrumors 68030
I still use email to keep in contact with friends and family, in addition to IM and phone. They each have their advantages. IM is quick and more conversation-like, and I can still have the app log my conversations so that I can refer back if I need anything (i.e. for work). Email is good when sending the same message to the masses, for work, for whatever, or for when the other person doesn't have IM. Facebook is a nice way to post large numbers of photos and brief messages to everyone (however, not everyone I keep in contact with has an account). I RARELY text message. Meh. Maybe I'm just an old 29 year old. Again, there is a place for each medium, but I wouldn't say that any of them are particularly antiquated. Of course, the in-person approach is probably my favorite. I hate to see the day when face-to-face is considered so old hat. 😀
eji
macrumors 6502
Uh, no. SMS lends itself to a more abbreviated form of communication. I can easily write a 1000-word e-mail, whereas to send the same thing via SMS would take ages no matter how adept my thumbs were. And it would be hell for the recipient too, even when viewing on the fairly large screen of the iPhone.
SMS is simply not conducive to a long, thoughtful, coherent, productive discussion on any topic. Because of that, it's a mere shadow of e-mail, which is good for both brief and lengthy communication. I'm not arguing that SMS doesn't have a purpose, only that it's not fully equivalent to e-mail, and that e-mail shouldn't be relegated to business.
Abstract
macrumors Penryn
koobcamuk
macrumors 68040
Agreed. Lots of teens stay logged in the entire time. My 20 year old brother has a tab of safari always open to facebook!
I text a lot - I don't really like talking on the phone - especially in an office or something like that.
If I have loads of work to do, I turn off all IM. I check email whenever it comes through. Only if I am abroad would that change at all.
It's all about MSN (in UK) and Facebook. Attachments or non instant stuff is email.
I can't remember the last time I hand-wrote a letter.
takao
macrumors 68040
3. class elementary school because we had to
after than only a handful of post cards
edit: oh and christmas wish list letter to the "christkind" .. we always wrote those by hand
(now as student i switched that to email 😉 )
edit2: not that anybody could read my hand writing anyways
xUKHCx
Administrator emeritus
I email my dad as I know that he will see it almost instantly whereas if I text him I would have to wait until about 5.15 (when he leaves work) to get a response.
My mum I just phone because she nevers has her phone on and takes 3 days to check her emails.
My grandparents don't have a computer but I will text them and have had replies 😎. but mainly I phone them.
Anyone in my peer group I will text/call.
My mum I just phone because she nevers has her phone on and takes 3 days to check her emails.
My grandparents don't have a computer but I will text them and have had replies 😎. but mainly I phone them.
Anyone in my peer group I will text/call.
Eraserhead
macrumors G4
That I have GMail means that my email is downloaded automatically every 5 minutes, so I know when I get it.
I'd like to hear if this really is the case, if it is I imagine the reason could be that their new iPhone doesn't use the feature so they see no reason to include it with future releases as you shouldn't really be using a competitors product with your Apple PC. Similar to how iSync support dried up around the time that I'm guessing they committed to the iPhone.
Same here, regarding not liking speaking on the phone. I just don't like not seeing the person I'm speaking to and hate the feeling that you're rushed if they're busy or interrupted and rushing if you're busy if they call you.
I prefer to text or email, my preference is text for people I know are out and about because I know they'll get the message immediately, some people I know only check they're emails from their desk when at the office of daily if it's non-work.
My texts are generally written in proper English (whatever that is!?) and the formats of my emails and text a practically identical, along with printed correspondence when I rarely use it.
Unspeaked
macrumors 68020
The fact of the matter is, if you're only going to use a single form of electronic communication, there's no way you can get by with anything but email.
Try filing taxes, shopping online or applying for a job with only a mobile, or Facebook account. It ain't gonna happen...
Try filing taxes, shopping online or applying for a job with only a mobile, or Facebook account. It ain't gonna happen...