Email is for old people

Outside of work, SMS and instant messaging are fast becoming the writing tools of choice. Indeed, South Korea - that crystal ball of all our digital tomorrows - has even seen a report that many teenagers have stopped using email altogether. "It's for old people," they say.

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According to the poll, mobile texting, instant messaging and the perception that email is "a lot of bother" are all contributing to the end of the email era. Other factors, say the report, are the difficulty of ascertaining if an email has arrived and the lack of immediate response. One young Korean said that texting felt like a ping-pong game and that email was more "like doing homework".

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

There's an opportunity in here somewhere - it shouldn't be too hard to merge IM, SMS and email into one seamless communication. Unfortunately Facebook/Cyworld etc. are always going to be a proprietary impediment.