Peak Email {A Fairy Story}

1. Communication

In the early 90s, there was E-mail. A few people used it and it was good. E-mail

In the early 90s, there was E-mail. A few people used it and it was good. First you needed to work for an institution (such as a university) to get an email account. Then you could get one on AOL or Compuserve. Then came Hotmail. E-mail

In the early 90s, there was E-mail. A few people used it and it was good. First you needed to work for an institution (such as a university) to get an email account. Then you could get one on AOL or Compuserve. Then came Hotmail. But just because you can use email doesn’t mean that you should. E-mail

If E-mail is e- mail then instant messaging is e- whispering . Instant Messaging E-mail

If E-mail is e- mail then instant messaging is e- whispering . Or e- passingnotesatthebackofthe class. Instant Messaging E-mail

It took about 10 years for instant messaging to get inside organisations. If E-mail is e- mail then instant messaging is e- whispering . Or e- passingnotesatthebackofthe class. Instant Messaging E-mail

If E-mail is e- mail then blogs are e- ranting . With the right of reply. E-mail Blog

If E-mail is e- mail then Twitter is e- rantingatthebackoftheclasswiththerightofreply . E-mail

Open Closed Heavy Lite Instant Messaging E-mail Blog

Open Closed Leaves a record Works with a small # of conversation participants Good for paragraphs / argument Leaves a record Driven by voice of blogger Interaction thru comments & with other blogs Conversational Immediate Works with a small # of conversation participants Heavy Lite Conversational Immediate Driven by voice of writer Interaction with other writers Instant Messaging E-mail Twitter Blog

Leaves a record

Works with a small # of

conversation participants

Good for paragraphs

/ argument

Leaves a record

Driven by voice of blogger

Interaction thru comments

& with other blogs

Conversational

Immediate

Works with a small # of

conversation participants

Conversational

Immediate

Driven by voice of writer

Interaction with other

writers

2. Collaboration

To E-mail we added Word (& Excel & Powerpoint). E-mail

To E-mail we added Word (& Excel & Powerpoint). And we turned on “Track Changes”. E-mail

To E-mail we added Word (& Excel & Powerpoint). And we turned on “Track Changes”. E-mail E-mail E-mail E-mail E-mail E-mail

To E-mail we added Word (& Excel & Powerpoint). And we turned on “Track Changes”. Oh dear. E-mail E-mail E-mail E-mail E-mail E-mail

And some of these documents we put on intranets & internets. But we couldn’t edit them there. Until… E-mail HTML

Open Closed Receiver Read-only Receiver Read & Write E-mail Wikis HTML

Open Closed Receiver Read-only Receiver Read & Write Presents formatting & attachments Often cannot be edited by readers Presentation formatting & attachments is unreliable Readers can respond but not edit original Presents formatting & attachments Readers can edit documents Editing co-ordinated Presents formatting Readers can edit documents Editing unco-ordinated Word E-mail Wikis HTML

Presents formatting & attachments

Often cannot be edited by readers

Presentation formatting & attachments is unreliable

Readers can respond but not edit original

Presents formatting & attachments

Readers can edit documents

Editing co-ordinated

Presents formatting

Readers can edit documents

Editing unco-ordinated

3. Notification

E-mail has been a tool for receiving updates for some time. E-mail

E-mail has been a tool for receiving updates for some time. Along with everything else it does. E-mail

RSS can offer a dedicated channel for updates from websites, blogs & wikis. RSS E-mail

RSS E-mail

A mix of one-way and two-way communication Can be hard to locate content from a specific source Dedicated one-way channel for content updates Easy to locate content from a specific source RSS E-mail

A mix of one-way and two-way communication

Can be hard to locate content from a specific source

Dedicated one-way channel for content updates

Easy to locate content from a specific source

To Conclude

E-mail Instant Messaging Wikis Twitter HTML Blogs RSS

E-mail: It’s not bad. It just needs to know its place.