E-Communication (#3)

In a way, I am looking forward to our first Virtual Indiana Classroom (VIC) session tonight so that I can see and hear all of my peers.* While I have been looking through the blogs and profiles my classmates have been posting, so as to familiarize myself with them, VIC is the next best thing to a face-to-face meeting. Don’t get me wrong, blogging is great, however, it suffers from the same setback as e-mail; that is to say, it removes the human element.

Unless we are given a specific topic for our next blog, I will devote my next few entries to the topic of e-communication; in particular, e-mail. (Warning! This could get lengthy.)

Let me begin by stating that I believe technology is a wonderful thing when it works. When it does not work, there is nothing that can make me feel more helpless or be more frustrating. Take for example the method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over an electronic communication system, more commonly known as electronic mail or just e-mail.

E-mail is a relatively new mode of communication that is experiencing exploding growth in the U.S. and around the world. On their website, EmailLabs reports that in the United States alone, 88% of adult Internet users have at least one personal e-mail account. Of that 88% there are 46% that also have e-mail access at work. Approximately 147 million people across the United States use e-mail almost every day. E-mail volume in the United States nearly doubled from 1.5 trillion in 2003 to 2.7 trillion in 2007. In my opinion, this phenomenal growth rate means that e-mail has the potential to be the greatest thing the computer revolution has done for personal productivity.

Because of its speed and accessibility, I use e-mail at my place of employment to communicate with co-workers and clients; as a graduate student at the university I use e-mail to communicate with instructors, and at home I use e-mail to stay in touch with family and friends. E-mail has many advantages over other modes of communication, such as face-to-face, conventional mail, telephone, fax, and telegram. While it is impractical to list them all, it is clear to me that e-mail saves time and resources. …

To be continued

I will see you all in class this evening.

*In another way I am not, because I know I will be getting home late and I have to get up too early in the morning to prepare for work.