E-Communication II (#4)

Since we have not delved too deeply into the technical side of class yet, I will continue on with my e-communication diatribe:

...For example, while sitting in my cubicle in the basement of Crestview Hall, it took me 1:12.484 to open my e-mail account, open a new mail message, address the message, give the message a subject, compose the message, and send the message to my co-worker in his office in the Writing Help Center (W.H.C.), which is located on the far end of the Indiana University Southeast campus. If I delivered this message to him in person, it would have taken me ten minutes just to make the walk over to the W.H.C. and back, not to mention the time that would be spent verbally communicating the message to him and participating in “small talk” while I am in his office and on the way to and from his office. In short, valuable time was saved.

To use another example from my personal life, way back in the day, before any of us had heard of electronic mail, I had a “real” pen pal, one to whom I actually took the time to sit down at the kitchen table once a month and write a “real” letter to. (That’s right; every month!) That is until that fateful day in June when I forgot Jeong Yoon Heo’s birthday and neglected to send her a card. I believe her last words to me were, “Dear Michael, I was very sorry to receive your last letter. I was angry because you forgot my birthday. I told you the date of my birthday. That’s all I have to say to you.” Needless to say, there has been an uneasy peace between myself and South Korea since that day. However, today, thanks to the “magic” of e-mail, I am able to write to my wife who is currently in Matsuyama-shi, Japan, on a daily basis. (No; it is not a coincidence this country is strategically located next to South Korea.)

O.K., enough for now....

To be continued

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.