I somehow managed to click over to this waste of bandwidth describing a panel at "The Future of Web Apps" where a bunch of Web 2.0 execs sat at a table and talked about how cool they were and delivered a eulogy for e-mail.
There is a reason old technology doesn't die: it works. For every "young person" sending his friends facebook messages or twittering to set up meetings, there is a time when facebook isn't accessible or when twitter is down or slow. The article quotes a Google engineer who obviously has no need for reliable communication and has read one too many Pew Internet and American Life Project reports:
Not to be rude, but if you see e-mail as only a way to talk to a university or bank, you obviously have never held a real job before. With filters, e-mail is far more useful than any single "Web 2.0" application. I can use more than 144 characters. I can send attachments. I don't have to deal with "Pirate or Zombie" invitations every time I check my messages, because those messages that I need appear on my BlackBerry."E-mail has died away for a group of users. For the younger generation, they don't use e-mail," he said, talking about the young Web users who have started to abandon e-mail for Facebook messaging and mobile texting. "They see it as this noisy spam-filled thing that annoys them every day...they see it as how you talk to the university, how you talk to the bank."
Oh, have I mentioned that e-mail makes use of a protocol that has evolved over many years? It works because the Internet works. If you send an email and it doesn't go through the first time, the server keeps trying. If facebook is down, it's down. No messages can get through.
That's why Telex and Fax machines are still around. They are accepted as legal proof of transmission. Fax machines are as ubiquitous as Telex used to be. I regularly see old law firm letterhead with Telex numbers on it.
Oh, and e-mail provides more than personal identity. I have multiple e-mail inboxes for multiple purposes. Work, personal, side project, side project, etc. I can archive my e-mail for as long as I want. I don't have to rely on the goodwill of Facebook to store my messages. Also, when I get a new job, I get a different email address. What am I going to do, have separate facebook profiles? Please.
There may not be a Web 2.0 stock bubble, but there is certainly a thought bubble. Guys, you're not going to change the world. You even use email to confirm subscriptions to your sites. What would you do without that?
Enough said.
