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Better Communication Method

Penguin postcard from Antarctica

There may come a day (not next week but soon enough) that we eliminate email altogether for this website, set up a P.O. Box, and communicate only via postcards for awhile.

Email is a failed communication method. There are many reasons for this; among the most obvious:

  1. It's hazardous and annoying. Spam, viruses, worms, and Spyware are here to stay. And who wants that hassle?
  2. Few people know how to use it properly. You know what I'm talking about: THE PERSON WHO TYPES IN ALL UPPERCASE. or, worse, uses no caps ltrs at all no greeting no signature 4get trying 2 figure out said person's msgs. Their message resembles a MySpace or Facebook page on LSD.
  3. Relay problems, bouncebacks, and address changes. Sending email and having it actually arrive (READ: to Apple Mail users) is sometimes as reliable as a seeing-eye-dog in a hamburger factory.
  4. Time waster. Writing used to take effort on both parts. Now you sort through hundreds of emails, research a response, and then compose back a message, which undoubtedly garners another email response asking for further details and follow-up questions. It's silly. You can solve in 5 minutes over a telephone what one hour of emails back and forth will accomplish.

Not that email is bad. It does have some good uses---in limited quantities like sending reports, attachments, that sort of thing.

And so, we've decided to take the Pepsi Challenge to that phenomenon known as email once and for all:

Postcards Vs. Email

E-Mail A Postcard
Unlimited length. Leads to rambling, bores the reader, loses the point, and causes people to look for the Delete key. Fixed length. You've got to fit your entire message on the back, baby! Keeps it short, simple, and sweet.
Free. Send 1 or send 1 million. Welcome to the world of spam! Costs Money. Less likely to be used for 6 billion messages into my mailbox each day.
Few people can use properly. People don't know how to use email. Witness: viruses and worms spread around the world in seconds. Anyone can use. All you need is a pen, a cafe, and a relaxing atmosphere.
Loss of time/distance. The Internet has closed the borders! E-Mail has changed the world! That's sooo late 90's. Who cares anymore? A message sent from New York looks, feels and acts like a message sent from Brisbane, Australia. Boring. Snapshot of time and history. Nothing beats the excitement of receiving a postcard from a far away land.

Except of course, being in said far away land writing the post card!

Questions / Comments? Send a friggin email!

While you still can.

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