Holly Golightly

May 26, 2011 at 12:41am

I am sorry, but you know you need an email address to activate a Face/Space/Tweet/Tube account online? Without an email address, how are you going to connect to a social network and have a log in? At this moment, it is just impossible... But of course it is not impossible. I think it could actually happen, but just not right now. It is not internationally accepted, nor are corporate users are willing to use them.

I believe that social networks are counter-productive. They stop students from studying, corporate workers from working, and even gamers from playing. Sad, but true. I myself wish I was absolutely independent. What is worst is that some of my classmates don't use email at all... In order to contact them, you need a social network of some sort. Maybe we are facing a grim future?

I will hold on to my gaming rig, while it has a window minimized for email, and a game running on my 16x10 monitor, and my loud, clacking keyboard next to my old fashioned mouse. My taste in doing things may be old fashioned... But I am glad to know I am not the only one.

brentrad

May 25, 2011 at 11:21am

Email is not dead, and likely never will die.  The reason email is so pervasive is the same reason Windows is so pervasive:  it's good enough for most uses, and it works everywhere on almost every device. 

There may be other communication methods that are technically superior, but until that method is available on EVERY SINGLE internet-connected device in existence, email ain't going anywhere.

Brad Chacos

May 25, 2011 at 10:09am

Sure, Facebook, Twitter, AIM etc. exist, and they're all great for sending people messages -- but even as omnipresent as they seem, the social media giants don't enjoy 100% market penetration like email does. Pretty much everybody with an Internet connection has an email address, and few people in the corporate world are allowed to use alternative messaging systems for business. Until that changes, or until a new communications format completely takes over the Internet, email won't die.

Heck, I spend over an hour in my inbox everyday.

Biceps

May 25, 2011 at 10:07am

Marthian probably said it better below than I will, but that's never stopped me before.  I do understand why all these different consultancies are always screaming 'X is DEAD!!!', where X = PC gaming, email, laptops, desktops, the mouse, etc, etc.  The reason is that they need customers, and potential customers are most likely to be shocked and awed into purchasing your services if you can convince them that something they or their kids do everyday is actually a dying trend.  So while most tech-savvy people understand emial is here and here to stay, some 60-year old business executive who doesn't know a laptop from rag-top might be conned into thinking that this 'cutting edge consultancy firm' is going to keep him ahead of the rest of the competition. A sucker is born every minute, and lots of them wear ties.

Unfortunately for us all, Rodney Dangerfield is dead, and the world is poorer for it.  Email, PC gaming, laptops, desktops, the mouse and asshole consultancies that keep proclaiming 'the end is near!' are all going to be here for a long time to come.

Baer

May 25, 2011 at 9:26am

I have just about every kind of device you can imagine, A few very powerful desktops (which I use 85% of the time) a good higher end notebook, a tablet and a smartphone. When I use anything but hy high end desktop I feel deprived. Sure I can look at what my kids are doing on facebook on about anything but 10 minutes later I am out of there. I use the Notebook while traveling and of course the smartphone all the tme but 80% of what I do on it is talk. The tablet is a toy, we all like toys but they do not replace real stuff for very long.

All this talk about everything goint to the cloud which we access through cool but wimpy gadgets is about as accurate as all T V's going 3D in the next year. Someone is trying to sell us a bill of goods.

Marthian

May 25, 2011 at 9:17am

I laugh at these people who say Desktops, laptops, pc gaming, and email is dead. They are so ignorant and should be considered tech-illiterate.

Desktops are becoming increasingly becoming faster, and will always be faster than any other new technology coming out.

Laptops are great for those that don't like touch screens (I hate them, and I prefer hearing the click when I am typing... not to mention calibration and then those tiny screens...)

PC Gaming is getting into its prime, look at Frostbite 2.0 and the new Unreal Engine.

email is anything but dead. I prefer to have newsletters emailed to me than having to click a link on Facebook for it. You also don't get personalized stuff, it feels great to have it say hi, person, here's some news. Mail MAY be dying (there's still some things mail is useful for), but email is anything but that.

BonzTM

May 25, 2011 at 8:42am

Screw Facebook and Twitter.  SMS/MMS can also die for all I care.

Those of us with Smartphones should be using email as primary communication over SMS/MMS.  It's just as fast, at least with Android and Gmail push email.  There is no 160 character limit, and they can be so much larger.  Full size pictures if you want.  You can access it from anywhere, not just your phone... and it's archived forever if you want it to be.  With Gmail you even have threaded messages like you would with SMS/MMS on your phone.

I don't know why people think email is so old and archaic.

audiomatron

May 25, 2011 at 8:39am

I email people who are in offices right next to mine (which I realize is lazy). I promise you, Email is not dead.

D00dlavy

May 25, 2011 at 8:32am

I would rather shit on my own head and die than use Facebook or Twitter as my primary means of communication.

praetor_alpha

May 25, 2011 at 8:10am

Go and say that email is dead to any business. Or anyone who isn't on Facebook or Twitter.