Human history is one of progressive improvement in communication. From the 20th century mail was a fundamental form of communication. The invention of electronic mail (email) changed two things. It became cheap to send short mail, and delivery was instant. Email became favored for both corporate and personal communication.
But email faces increasing competition. Chat, text messages, Twitter, social networks and even lifestreaming tools are chipping away at email usage.
….Email has been the blockbuster and the Internet killer app for the past few decades, but it doesn’t have a monopoly. New more contextual ways to communicate are emerging and slicing pieces of the email pie, particularly in the consumer market.
We’re likely to see a consumer shift from email towards more compact forms of communication, but in the enterprise the email hold is strong and unlikely to be replaced any time soon.
I disagree with RWW’s analysis here. Any change that is as fundamental as the communications shift we currently see in the consumer sector will relatively soon percolate into the ‘enterprise’ setting. This is especially so because we are seeing a rise in entrepreneurial and contract based work. The enterprise setting itself is changing. Workers among these newer, more progressive types of companies — who we call modern web professionals — seek social, cheap and intelligent communications without the restrictions of middle management and corporate red tape.
I believe that a shift away from email will begin as soon as we see products that can demonstrate a true ROI based on their use and I think that time is nearly upon us.
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