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You really don't see what's happening then? You know how people get to a certain age and then they stop wanting to change the technology they use? That's what t

You really don't see what's happening then? You know how people get to a certain age and then they stop wanting to change the technology they use? That's what the adults in your office are doing. Email is like having a fixed-line phone - it's going slowly out of use. The young ones are the ones that change technology, not the ones who have already adopted a technology. It's difficult to shake off the inertia of an existing method, but when you see someone young compare two technologies (email vs social-networking mail), and in almost all cases choose one option, then that option has won. People who have to choose for the first time are overwhelmingly choosing one side. So it does not matter what the grown ups in your office are using because those grown ups are being replaced. Email is not going anywhere soon, it has its place, but for sending messages to friends, social networking has already won.

gnaritas 18y ago
One can certainly make that argument, but it assumes people don't outgrow those sites, and they are just web sites by the way, not some new protocol or revolutionary thing. Social network has been around for ages, myspace and facebook are just recent reincarnations of the fad. Perhaps the kids just haven't been around long enough to see that walled gardens are always fads and never last while true open systems like email, IRC, and the web as a whole cannot be displaced by any such private system. Sure, kids like facebook, but then they grow up, get jobs, and discover the rest of the internet and actually start using it. The older folks aren't stuck on using old technology, they're wisely using the better technology rather than following teenage fads which won't last.
- markessien 18y ago
  Usenet was open, why did forums take over? Why do people prefer MSN and co to IRC? Sometimes the technology you think is right does not win. Keep your mind open.
  - gnaritas 18y ago
    Usenet was harder to use, forums work from any web browser. IRC, also hard to use for non computer people while IM's were easy, obvious reasons why those became popular. The same is not true of twitter/facebook/myspace, email is just as simple to use and works in browsers as well. I'm not oblivious to the social aspects and the hooking up factor going on but that stuff only appeals to very young single folks. Social networking has not won anything yet, it's too young to even be over the fad phase, it has it's place but it won't be replacing email anytime soon. I'm also a programmer in my early 30's so I'm hardly an old foggie that just doesn't get it. My mind's open but my eyes aren't shut. Facebook can't keep burning VC money forever and it's not yet figured out a profitable way to monetize its eyeballs. In this economy, which still hasn't hit bottom, it's not looking very good for them.
sahaj 18y ago
Email is not going anywhere soon, it has its place, but for sending messages to friends, social networking has already won. i think you meant to say text messaging, not social networking. go to any middle school or high school, it's all about the phone platform. the parents of these kids would rather pay $15 for unlimited text plan than $30 for an unlimited data plan.

gnaritas 18y ago

One can certainly make that argument, but it assumes people don't outgrow those sites, and they are just web sites by the way, not some new protocol or revolutionary thing. Social network has been around for ages, myspace and facebook are just recent reincarnations of the fad. Perhaps the kids just haven't been around long enough to see that walled gardens are always fads and never last while true open systems like email, IRC, and the web as a whole cannot be displaced by any such private system. Sure, kids like facebook, but then they grow up, get jobs, and discover the rest of the internet and actually start using it. The older folks aren't stuck on using old technology, they're wisely using the better technology rather than following teenage fads which won't last.

markessien 18y ago
Usenet was open, why did forums take over? Why do people prefer MSN and co to IRC? Sometimes the technology you think is right does not win. Keep your mind open.
- gnaritas 18y ago
  Usenet was harder to use, forums work from any web browser. IRC, also hard to use for non computer people while IM's were easy, obvious reasons why those became popular. The same is not true of twitter/facebook/myspace, email is just as simple to use and works in browsers as well. I'm not oblivious to the social aspects and the hooking up factor going on but that stuff only appeals to very young single folks. Social networking has not won anything yet, it's too young to even be over the fad phase, it has it's place but it won't be replacing email anytime soon. I'm also a programmer in my early 30's so I'm hardly an old foggie that just doesn't get it. My mind's open but my eyes aren't shut. Facebook can't keep burning VC money forever and it's not yet figured out a profitable way to monetize its eyeballs. In this economy, which still hasn't hit bottom, it's not looking very good for them.

sahaj 18y ago

Email is not going anywhere soon, it has its place, but for sending messages to friends, social networking has already won. i think you meant to say text messaging, not social networking. go to any middle school or high school, it's all about the phone platform. the parents of these kids would rather pay $15 for unlimited text plan than $30 for an unlimited data plan.