4 ms·

Email: The Variable Reinforcement Machine

23 points by phsr 17y ago

AndrewDucker 17y ago
I don't seem to have the massive problem with email that some people do. Stuff arrives in, I deal with it, or get on with what I was doing. If I want to arrange to meet a group of friends then multi-way email is by far the best way of doing it. If I want to exchange documents at work, email does it perfectly well (until we get a CMS going). It's not the only medium, but it's one that has many uses, and I'm not planning on quitting it any time soon.
tristan_juricek 17y ago
His heart is in the right place, but I'm not so sure he needed to say "Stop. Sending. Email". Perhaps "Stop Automatically Checking Your Email" would be a better choice, since that's basically the recommendation at the end of the article. At my place, we've got the following formula: email + Dropbox + blog + campfire + website system (based on Markdown) + damn phones. I highly recommend Dropbox for sharing files, and the blog + campfire handles the "broadcasts". The website is for documentation. All of these things are free and easy to set up. I could do less with the damn phones, actually. :) Most of the calls I get would be better asked by composing a good mail rather than "oh, hm, you know?"
tokenadult 17y ago
I deal with email. I don't consider email a burden, but rather a blessing. I have more friends I correspond with regularly with email than I would have if I wrote postal letters. I like the reminder that research has shown that variable schedules of reinforcement produce high persistence of response. http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedu... That's not intuitive, as Jeff points out, and it's a useful thing to know for hackers who provide Web services as part of a start-up business.
phsr 17y ago
I'm glad Atwood wrote a well thought out article, instead of the brief rehashes we had been seeing. I suspect the shorter articles are a result of StackOverflow DevDays coming up
jrockway 17y ago
"Sometimes you get spam or mail you don't want, so stop using email completely." No thanks. I learned to use email correctly, and it's a valuable tool that I am not going to replace with phone calls or twitter.

23 points by phsr 17y ago

I don't seem to have the massive problem with email that some people do. Stuff arrives in, I deal with it, or get on with what I was doing. If I want to arrange to meet a group of friends then multi-way email is by far the best way of doing it. If I want to exchange documents at work, email does it perfectly well (until we get a CMS going). It's not the only medium, but it's one that has many uses, and I'm not planning on quitting it any time soon.

tristan_juricek 17y ago

His heart is in the right place, but I'm not so sure he needed to say "Stop. Sending. Email". Perhaps "Stop Automatically Checking Your Email" would be a better choice, since that's basically the recommendation at the end of the article. At my place, we've got the following formula: email + Dropbox + blog + campfire + website system (based on Markdown) + damn phones. I highly recommend Dropbox for sharing files, and the blog + campfire handles the "broadcasts". The website is for documentation. All of these things are free and easy to set up. I could do less with the damn phones, actually. :) Most of the calls I get would be better asked by composing a good mail rather than "oh, hm, you know?"

tokenadult 17y ago

I deal with email. I don't consider email a burden, but rather a blessing. I have more friends I correspond with regularly with email than I would have if I wrote postal letters. I like the reminder that research has shown that variable schedules of reinforcement produce high persistence of response. http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedu... That's not intuitive, as Jeff points out, and it's a useful thing to know for hackers who provide Web services as part of a start-up business.

phsr 17y ago

I'm glad Atwood wrote a well thought out article, instead of the brief rehashes we had been seeing. I suspect the shorter articles are a result of StackOverflow DevDays coming up

jrockway 17y ago

"Sometimes you get spam or mail you don't want, so stop using email completely." No thanks. I learned to use email correctly, and it's a valuable tool that I am not going to replace with phone calls or twitter.