Let's face it; the developed world is running on constant overdrive. The way I see it, people are always competing to sell more mattresses, or produce longer lasting gum, or drive a better car than everyone else. We compete for scholarships, jobs, recognition, grades...you name it, people are fighting for it. As such, it is no wonder e-mail has become a huge part of our lives. We have this insatiable need for fast...rapid...instant communication so that we can keep up with everyone and everything that is going on around us.
It makes sense. Business people...professors...and even my friends...can no longer afford to wait for messages and documents to be sent through the old fashioned post; if they did, they would lose out because everyone around them would have already gotten the message 3 days earlier. Problem nowadays is that having instant access to knowledge is no longer an advantage, but a necessity.
Unless you sit to think about it, however, you don't realize how essential this seemingly simple technology is (and has been) to creating a successful and functional society. For the next three months, I'm going to look at the benefits, challenges, weaknesses, opinions...and whatever else I can find about the not-so-dead world of e-mail.
