In The US, Email Is Only For Old People

lxw56 writes "Two years after Slashdot discussed the theory that Korean young people were rejecting email, an article at the Slate site written by Chad Lorenz comes to the same conclusion about the United States. 'Those of us older than 25 can't imagine a life without e-mail. For the Facebook generation, it's hard to imagine a life of only e-mail, much less a life before it. I can still remember the proud moment in 1996 when I sent my first e-mail from the college computer lab. It felt like sending a postcard from the future. I was getting a glimpse of how the Internet would change everything--nothing could be faster and easier than e-mail.'"

Re:Just the beginning

[untaken_name]

When distributed networks become truly transparent and ubiquitous, we are going to see a future where todays Internet will look absolutely archaic.

Not to rain on your parade, but doesn't the future tend to make most things look archaic? Isn't that kind of...the definition [reference.com] of archaic?

Re:If email is dead...

[russ1337]

My mother still writes letters... she's 63.

Funny story. She does use e-mail as well, and was one day complaining to my (now late) father that she was getting too much 'junk mail'.

His answer: "well just print the bloody stuff out and throw it in the trash!"

Kids

[Matt867]

Them damned whippersnappers and their fancy "Instant Messengers" They are up to no good I tells ye, no good at all!

Privacy is for old people

[TheMiddleRoad]

I prefer to communicate with friends via a system that has absolutely no assumption or chance of privacy, and where I can see ads that are actually supposed to be there. Thank you, MySpace, Facebook, and others, for convincing kids that all the stupid crap they say should be owned and data-mined by corporations. In the meantime, I think I'll go login to my Gmail account so I can write to Daddy. I know I can trust good old Google. They put funny logos up for holidays!

It's another way to screen people out

[gelfling]

First had phones. And God created the answering machine and voice mail and said it was good. And hence forth all people would not answer the phone and would not return calls. Then there was the email and people worshipped it verily. Till the spammers gushed from satan's bowels. And low did the email fall. 85 percent did go to the bitbucket unopened. And in the corporation (blessed be he) email distribution lists issued forth like a plague of locusts and verily didst thou receiveth the same email with the same 9MB attachment with a header that speaketh "Me Too!" 40 times.

So there beget the IM which permitteth thou to put DNC flags and "I'm not here" status lines. Behold it was a wonder. Till the day when thine fellows ignored the status line and sent messages forth, no matter. But the upper middle managers didst avoid this plague with their Blackberries - sending forth SMS and emails 'from the car'. And God saw what he had created and was overflowing with wrath.

Re:Can only hold a thought for 40 seconds

[ScrewMaster]

I guess thats because kids can only hold a thought for 40 seconds. BEEEEEUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZWHOOOMMP

Yes, and they spend about 38 of those seconds thinking about sex, which doesn't leave much time for communication.

Obligatory

[MoxFulder]

In 21st century America, grandma emails YOU!!!!

Re:Spam ruined email

[hitmark]

thats why we see more and more im systems develop a system of offline messages.

as in, you can leave a message for someone thats not connected to the system right now, and it will be delivered when they do.

only thing missing really is a way to save and sort individual messages like one can mail, and upload files in a similar way to how one can do attachments to a mail.

still, it could be thats where microsoft is heading with the live messenger system.

Sign up without email?

[slapout]

How are these people signing up for Facebook and Myspace without email addresses? :-)

Re:Spam ruined email

[offput]

Mail.app catches every email my Mother sends me

Man, I gotta get a mac.