Can we at least kill it in its current form? Even Gmail in all its splendor is an onslaught of awful, inbox overwhelming noise…and my rules have my Gmail rocking out! The simple fact is that Email, as a communication channel, is over-used and often used in place of a communication channels better-suited to the task at hand. This is how so many people I’ve encountered, have an inbox with triple digits.
Maybe it has to do with my use of Twitter, IM and texting but I find Email to be the most cumbersome of communication channels. Just SPIT IT OUT ALREADY! When I need something done, I dread needing email to get it done. It takes everything I’ve got not to just ignore it entirely and wait until someone calls me.
What’s worse is that more often than not, companies are still focusing on email first and then social channels. The word eBlast makes me cringe. Email marketing is a numbers game and it bothers the living hell out of me. I can’t wait for more companies to embrace the Facebook wall model. If I want a deal, I’ll come to you, stop cluttering my inbox! Furthermore, if any of your target clients are under 25 years old, you might want to re-adjust your strategy as email is passe to the Milleniums.
Thankfully Facebook is doing something about it and trying to find a way to unify email, texting and IM. Hopefully more companies will follow in their footsteps. I’d like some form of unified Gmail, which can then be pushed to Google Apps which can then replace this horrid Microsoft Exchange paradigm we’re all forced to live in. I want my email to be organized by contact and threaded in one big conversation.
So who’s with me? Anyone else want to see the death of email? For me it can’t come quickly enough.