Hey Tod Maffin: Email is Not Dead!

Two weeks ago, CBC tech reporter and overall good guy Tod Maffin posted an article on his Future File blog entitled "Why Email is Dead".

I must admit I have an entirely different view. Let me quote snippets from Tod's article with my thoughts added in:

"I knew there was a problem when I ran into my former business partner the other day. He was miffed. He had sent me an email about a potential opportunity and I'd ignored him. Only I hadn't. I just never got to read his email before my spam filter snatched it."

In my experience, spam filters work quite well. Products like Qurb and Choicemail seem to be leading the charge.  Most of the spam filtering products out there allow you to approve certain senders so that they never get caught in the spam filter. Maybe Tod hadn't talked to his former business partner in some time and, thus, had not added his former business partner to the approved email list. 

Spam filters still do mistakes. You still have to wade through email in a "suspected spam" folder to see if anything  had  been caught that should not have been.   I know Tod must get a lot of email - and I imagine a lot more than most people. And wading through his spam folder must be a pain. But, for the vast majority, this is a manageable task.

"As with the experience with my business partner, many business people aren't even seeing some of the emails they're meant to. People will rely less on email for important and speedy communication – the very thing it was invented to assist with."

Once you approve someone in your spam filter, important and speedy communication surely can take place through email.

"When you examine the way people use email, you can spot three distinct trends that signal email's looming decline.  The first is an under-reported technology known as XML. Most business-to-business (B2B) email exchanges today are remarkably simple – small orders, questions about their account, or other administrative bits."

I don't even understand XML all that well, and I teach technology for a living.  Tod suggests using XML as a way to link two companies' computer systems together  so that transaction happens automatically, rather than through email. In my view, this only works if the two companies have the technical understanding to set this up AND they have an ongoing relationship. Otherwise, email still works best.

WHAT'S NEXT?
For one, RSS ("Really Simple Syndication"), which first took hold as a way to easily distribute content from bloggers – people who post personal diaries on the Internet.... Also watch for Voice Over IP (VoIP) to revolutionize the way people communicate. Your email, phone calls, voicemail, faxes, and instant messages will all flow into a single "Communications Box

I think RSS only works as an email substitute when one uses it to get information otherwise contained in email newsletters or email mailing lists. For most personal (even business related personal) communication, I just don't see it happening.

The problem with VOIP(Internet Phone) is that it takes a lot of connection speed and space. It is not really easily searchable. One of the great things about written text is that is acts as a record of communication and you can find specific words and phrases more readily. We are not there with voice yet.

More on this topic:

• Infocult Blog - "Email is Dead"
• Email Universe Ezine - "Email is not Dead"

 

Comments

[Mickael Maddison]

Hi Arjun,

I fully agree that email itself isn't really on the way out. By all means it's becoming harder and likely more expensive for spammers to get through to their intended recipients. Eventually I expect we'll see a change in email (possibly in XML format) that'll make it easier to manage.

I should mention though, I'm seeing a lot of comments similar to what Tod Maffin stated. I've had numerous problems with people missing our system messages due to misconfigured filters. The system I'm using requires minimal configuration by the user, and very rarely gives any false positives. The 2 or 3 that I've had were all easily retrieved well before the sender noticed.

It's going to get worse before it gets better, but somewhere along the line, things will get sorted out. Email is NOT dead. It's just going through some growing pains.

Mickael Maddison