Topic: Email 'could be obsolete in 10 years'

[Clive]

To many, email is now an unavoidable part of everyday life. However, it could be obsolete in 10 years, according to a report.

Email could die out within the next 10 years, replaced by more modern methods of communication, a report has claimed.

Research from ISP TalkTalk and the University of Kent found that alternative communication methods such as instant messaging (IM) and even Twitter could take over from email.

The report found that many surfers in their late teens or early twenties barely use email any more, as using IM or Twitter lets them reach more people more effectively.

Other technologies such as text messaging, Facebook status updates and even Google Wave could also make email a thing of the past.

Mark Schmid from TalkTalk said: "Email has been the dominant mode of communication over the internet for the past 20 years, but that doesn't mean it always will be.

"Increasingly people want to send quick, short messages reaching many people in one go, and there are now better ways of doing that than via email," Schmid continued.

[Simon]

I think the whole of the Internet will be very different in 10 years time.

[Clive]

I will fight it till my dying breath.  Splutter splutter...

[GillE]

Back in the Sixties they were predicting the imminent arrival of the paper-free office.

[Clive]

Now we use more paper than ever! 

[sam]

the amount of paper that must have been wasted by me just coming into the USA is stupid... especially after they made me apply in advance online  ':| - got to have my finger prints taken by a pretty cool machine though - they have now stolen my soul (well the did steal my suitcase lock - punks smashed it open!)

[Rik]

So many of these predictions have been made over the years, I'll believe it when it happens. I've been using email for 25 years now.

[Simon]

I didn't know it existed until 10 years ago!

[Rik]

I used to pay about £30 for a Telecom Gold package in 1984, on top of which were long-distance phone calls, in those days not cheap, and a charge per KB for data. It sounds so silly now, doesn't it.

[Camstop]

Now we use more paper than ever! 

I don't!

I email PDF quotes, and invoices on times, do my accounts on a excel spreadsheet, get bills emailed pay by direct banking and get paid by direct backing.

Now back up CD's?. That's another thing!

If we got electronic invoices for all we bought i could almost take my books to my accountant on a memory stick 

It's junk mail that keeps the PO running so I'm reliably informed and if that was stopped the PO would be a very different place.

[Simon]

It certainly does!

[Rik]

It's junk mail that keeps the PO running so I'm reliably informed and if that was stopped the PO would be a very different place.

You can opt out of unaddressed junk mail...

[Camstop]

You can opt out of unaddressed junk mail...

I'm happy to receive it as if the PO goes we'll all pay the price 

[Simon]

Can you?  That's interesting.  How?

[Rik]

You have to contact customer services, who will send you an opt-out form, while telling you how much you'll be missing. It works pretty well.