> If we're going to discard centuries of consensus are we? imo there's just a different form of consensus for async communication, a more apt comparison would

> If we're going to discard centuries of consensus are we? imo there's just a different form of consensus for async communication, a more apt comparison would perhaps be a snail-mail letter: would you send a letter with "Hello!" and wait for a reply? just include the hello with the rest of the message :P maybe the disconnect people are having with this is whether instant messaging is actually async, or does one draw the line at email?