Emails

This will not be so heavy, but sometimes it is nice to take a break.

A pet peeve of mine: the notion that email is not efficient, not a good way to communicate.

I can sit in my lair and correspond nearly simultaneously with people literally throughout the entire globe. I can conduct planning, give reminders, post updates, etc., etc., etc. Sitting at my PC, I can get more done, not just casual conversation, in one hour than in what would have taken me one week of phone calls and traveling. To boot, I have a "paper" trail of all the conversations for later reference.

As long as we are able to avoid a 24-like, EMP scenario, the world is going to be electronic. Bills are electronic. Statements are electronic. Medical records are electronic. Unless one moves to a shack in the mountains of Montana and eats tree bark, he or she will be on the grid.

So there are still people who don't like email. Yes, it is impersonal. Yes, intentions can be misunderstood with the "printed" word. Much of that, however, is not the email's fault. Better writers make better emails.

A few weeks ago I heard a theory that addressed the illogical nature of this phenomenon. Like kids who make excuses for reading out loud because they have never really learned how to read, like the video game junkie who finds every reason to skip gym class because he can't jump over a telephone book, those who don't like email all seem to share a common denominator: they cannot type.

I learned to type as a senior in high school, at a typewriter. Today, kids learn to type in elementary school.

With the invention of cars, at some point the world realized that they would be around for a while, a common mode of transportation. At some point, schools started offering drivers ed. At some point, nearly everyone knew how to drive, either because they had to do so in school, or because, as adults, they realized that if they wanted to function successfully in society, they needed to update their skills.

I'm sure there were generations during the transition that said cars were not effective, that they were a waste of time and money. How many of these individuals said so because they didn't know how to drive. It wasn't that cars where not successful in revolutionizing travel, it was that they didn't know how to use them.

Here's the point. I'm not making fun of those who don't know how to type. I want to encourage them. Most people don't have the money to spend on voice-to-text applications. There are already numerous resources on the web, some of them free, for learning how to type. Don't remain in the dark. Catch up!! Don't have time? What is getting in the way. TV? Video games? We make time for what is important.

Some day, when a solar flare, knocks out all the electronics in the world, you can hammer me with "I told you so!!!" Just in case, however, I would make a point to start finding "home row".