Email has had a profound effect on many parts of global culture. But I have to say it is a walking corpse, a zombie, that you see everyday but is virtually lifeless. Corporations will continue to use it - but not for much longer. Many corporations have started seeking ways to eliminate email from their corporate culture.
Consider for minute if I offered you a new service for communicating with friends, family and co-workers.
But:
- You can't reliably tell who it's from.
- You can't trust the subject line to be true.
- You can't open any attached files because they are potentially dangerous.
- The content of many messages is deliberately written as a garbled mess.
- Despicable characters with low morals and even lower business ethics can send you content you would studiously avoid otherwise. Did I mention that there is no effective way to block these morons either?
- You need to be a detective to determine if documents that look like they are from trusted partners (bank sites, e-commerce sites) are not phony documents from criminals bent on lightening your wallet.
Would you sign up for this service? Even if I offered it for free? I doubt it!
Well, my friends, that is the current sorry state of email today. It's only a matter of time before we see mass abandonment of email as a means of reliable communication.
Unless, of course we fix the email sub-system to eliminate all of the current problems. Will the fixes arrive in time to save email?