Entry 7. - Essay.

Comprehensive Essay:

Is Email Dead? ... Sadly YES!


Do people have email accounts? Yes. Do they login to them semi-regularly? Yes. Do they use it as their primary source of communication for talking with their friends? No. One question that has been brought to many Internet users attention, is Email dead? In today’s society it is clear that the once famous form of online communication is losing its luster. Since the first home personal computer or PC, by IBM arrived in 1981, computers were seen as the leading edge of communication, as almost anyone could now send messages electronically. It is fair to say that email was never invented, but evolved from very simple beginnings, and now with the advances in communications over the web, the so-called ‘death of email’ has arrived.

When email was at its peak in the late 90’s more than 600 million people internationally were a user, and back before ‘MySpace’ and ‘Facebook’, many people felt sending emails was like sending postcards from the future. Now more than ten years later, e-mail is obsolete. As more mobile phones and sites like ‘Facebook’ become increasingly popular, those old Hotmail and Yahoo accounts forever lie dormant especially amongst teenagers; for people who believe kids are the future email is not looking well.

Over the last few years’ statistics have proven that the number of people using email has plummeted. According to a 2005 survey taken by ‘Pew Internet Research Center’ almost half of teenagers that use the web rather communicate with friends via instant messaging (IM). The survey also indicated that email use amongst teenagers was down 8%. Not only is email dead to most teenagers but also to some business firms who cannot control email inbox’s and are deleting many of their email accounts. To many corporations those email days are now over. The average corporate email account receives 18 MB of mail and attachments each business day, and that figure is expected to grow up to 28 MB a day, by 2011. The Union Bank in California is one business that cannot handle the constant flow of pointless emails filling up their inbox’s. "They are crucial for some people but irrelevant to the majority," says James Penn, the bank's VP of marketing. Today many companies are finding solutions for this by replacing broadcast emails with targeted RSS Web feeds. This is to help send memo’s to specific staff member’s rather then constant unnecessary emails to everyone. It is becoming clearer that email users are now finding different solutions and different forms of communication to get past the out of date emailing system.

To many email users ‘spam’ is what killed email, and when email is dead for spammers only then will it be useful again. The latest statistics show that over 80% of all email traffic in the US alone is ‘spam’. So, it is now safe to say that email has ultimately turned into junk mail. Being a free and open system is one of emails biggest advantages but also its biggest downfall as it allows junk to fill up almost every account inbox globally. This has sadly made users turn to alternative email accounts that actually allow the user to confirm or deny all mail that is sent, but this has also become a huge hassle. The main reason spammers have taken over the system is because email is not a paid service, if spammers were charged for every email they sent, the millions that are dispatched daily would certainly drop.

This entire situation is almost unbelievable. Compared to instant messaging, programs like Skype, even mobile phone texting, email is dismal. And to many people, they are still finding this extremely hard to believe. With the publicity ‘MySpace’ has received since it became a worldwide hit in 2005, other sites are constantly coming up, providing newer ways to communicate via the web. "Sometimes I say I e-mailed you, but I mean I Myspace'd or Facebook'ed you," (Butler, M 2007 – Host of teen podcast). It is obvious that mobile phones, ‘MySpace’ and instant messaging is the faster and easier way to communicate, and if you were to take these away from your children they would whinge “you have ruined my life”, and this is because you have taken away their main source of communication with their friends. Now with the tens of millions of members on these social networks such as ‘MySpace’ and ‘Facebook’ it wields a lot influence over the generation who constantly live online, now through both cell phone’s or the Internet. Just like mobile phones, as technology advances newer phones become available, with better quality and features. This same principle has fallen upon email as newer and better ways to communicate are constantly becoming available via the web, email is simply not the favourite anymore.

Over the years more and more reasons as to why email is no longer the best form of communication, has filled the brains of nearly every Internet user over the world. In reality, the recent shift towards instant messaging and other social networks was inevitable. Because of 'spam' and the newer forms of communication the death of email is now apparent. Of course email hasn't gone anywhere but it can be classed dead in the sense that it is no longer a site for emotional passion as it once was for millions of web users. Sure many people still have their email accounts, just like they still have mailboxes, but their place for social communication is now elsewhere.


References:

Olsen, S 2007, CNET News, Digital Kids, ‘Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead.’
pp. 1-3.
http://news.cnet.com/Kids-say-e-mail-is,-like,-soooo-dead/2009-1032_3-6197242.html


Heinz, T 2008, Email is Dead, ‘How Spam Ruined Email’.
pp. 1-2.
http://email.about.com/cs/spamgeneral/a/email_is_dead.htm


Ingram, M 2007, ‘Is email dead? No, but it’s not well’, THE INTERSECTION OF MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS AND THE WEB.
pp. 1 of 1.
http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2007/11/15/is-email-dead-no-but-its-not-well/


Anon. 2006, ‘email is dead, in reference to teens’, Youth Culture.
pp. 1-2.
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2006/11/07/what_i_mean_whe.html

Ahmad Humeid. 2005, COMMUNICATION | Email is junk mail in Ahmad Humeid’s dictionary.
http://www.360east.com/?p=196

Entry 6. - Excel & Word exercises.

Microsoft Word:

Were there any problems?
After completing the exercise on Microsoft Word, i didn't find it complicated at all.
Each of the steps told me exactly what i needed to do.

Did you find it too simple or confusing?
I guess the exercise was fairly simple only because i frequently use Microsoft Word. The steps indicated exactly what needed to be done so there was no confusion in completing the task.

Can you see how this software might be useful to you?
After the completion of the exercise it is clear that Microsoft Word is one program that almost anyone could use as it provides many functions that arn't too confusing to get the hang of. It is one program that is very useful to me.


Microsoft Excel:

Were there any problems?
There weren't any extreme problems i had with this exercise, but when comparing it to the Microsoft Word exercise the steps are a little more detailed and take a little bit more time.

What were your solutions?
I just re-read many of the steps that i found a little bit confusing, and after taking the time to re-read them i figured out exactly what i needed to do.

Did you find it too simple or confusing?
Unlike Word, Excel is a little more involved. Unless you have used Excel regularly it might take a little time to figure out all its functions and how they work. The steps told you exactly what needed to be done, so i guess it was fairly simple.

Can you see how this software might be useful to you?
When you are needing record specific data there is no better program to use rather than Excel. Like Word, Excel is a good program for mathematical purposes. When needing to make specific graphs Excel would be very useful to me.

Walter Benjamin. - "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

How do the ideas from Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" apply to contemporary digital media?
In Walter Benjamin's "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" he states that art has always be able to be replicated through new digital media. Thanks to technology, the use of computers and other digital programs anyone is now able to create or revamp artwork that is either new or old. The poses the question weather new digital art is considered new or plagerised and copied artwork.


There was a time when "Art" was made by artists who were skilled professionals. Now that anyone with a computer can create things digitally (music, images, videos, etc), what does that mean for "art"?
It is clear that anyone who owns a computer can now digitally create art, with the use of music, imagery and videos. The fact is that, yes, digital technology today has broadened the boudaries for 'Art', but those professionals real artwork is still recognised today. It is clear that digital computerised art does not hold the true and realistic qualities of those real artworks. This could be a positive or negative aspect for either digital artists or real artists who rely on free hand to make art. This just shows as technology advances many things can change. Compters give people with no artistic background the chance to create digital art.
"...the unique value of the “authentic” work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original use value." - W. Benjamin.


Is a photoshopped image "authentic"? & Do digital "things" have an "aura" (in Benjamin's terms)?
From Benjamin's point of view a photoshopped image is not 'authentic'. In his terms digital things have no 'aura' because the original subject and original existence of the production is no longer there. In other words once it is digitalised and edited using digital programs the image etc. does not hold its atheticity.