The Whiteboard Jungle

Perhaps e-mail between teachers and students in a high school setting has dropped, but e-mail use between Teachers, Administrators, Parents has increased, at least in our area. e-mail communication in a business environment is still growing and more and more older adults are learning the value of it. e-mail communication is the most used form of communication in business and is growing in community, volunteer, professional, and even church organizations.

Perhaps youth find texting more "Now" and better for their purposes, but as they grow and mature they may find that "real life" intrudes on their "instant gratification" syndrome. Then they may revert back to the old slower e-mail.

Just an opinion, I could be dead wrong.

Techart,

Thanks for the input. I agree that for business (including school, community, religious groups, etc.) and substantial/real content communication, e-mail is the medium to use. I e-mail with parents at least several times a week, if not every day in some cases, and e-mails between administrators and colleagues numbers in the dozens on a daily basis.

Looking at my father-in-law standing in line for the new iPhone for two hours, I wonder if that instant gratification syndrome will ever really go anywhere!

"Looking at my father-in-law standing in line for the new iPhone for two hours, I wonder if that instant gratification syndrome will ever really go anywhere!"

You're absolutely right. No one is going to outgrow it. Us old fogeys like to grumble about the instant gratification culture, but we're just as impatient as anyone. (Maybe because we're a bit closer to the grave than the rest of you and we don't have enough time left to squander.)

I more of a grumbler when it comes to the entitlement culture, but I understand what you mean.

There are essentially three factors that I see causing the shift that you see to text messaging:

1) Mobility and ease of use. In order to check e-mail, I generally need a PC. Of course, many providers now offer e-mail through cell phones, but it is a cumbersome process. If you have sent a long message, it is hard to read on most cell phones. If there was any formatting involved (columns, tables, etc) the formatting is often lost making the message hard to read. Text messages are short and to the point, not requiring a lot of effort.

2) Related to reason #1 is the expense. Cell phones are cheaper than PCs. While there may be a PC at home for e-mail, it is likely a shared resource. My cell phone is my cell phone and since I can't afford to buy my own PC...

3) New factor. Somehow, in the past few years, we have become accustomed to having a newer, sleeker, shinier, faster...whatever. Text messaging on a cell phone fills that bill. Now I can communicate even instanter. (of course that's a good word. I read it in a P.G. Wodehouse book.)

I guess it is safe to say then that each form of communication has its own uses, its own advantages and its own disadvantages. Caveat communicator.

BP01,

I don't even know if the "drive to have the newest" is all that new of a phenomenon. I just have a feeling that the increased number of personal gadgets (cell phones, MP3 players, etc) and how quickly "the next best thing" comes out, it just makes the turnover that much faster and that much more popular as the price also becomes something that students can more easily approach, as compared to something like a car.

Sure, I wanted something nicer than the 1981 Buick Skylark that I was driving as a senior in high school, but it was all I could afford and that it ran was better than nothing. I could not afford an upgrade, at all.

Jumping from a 2GB iPod to an 8GB iPod is something that I could have more realistically handled (back in the day - had it been available) on my salary of $4.75/ hour at the local lumber yard.

Maybe acceleration of the effect would be more accurate. You are right, there has always been a desire for something better, but it seems like in recent years this has been more of a DEMAND or at least an expectation that something new has to be developed RIGHT NOW.

Philosophically, I guess there is no real difference today than yesterday. Maybe it just seems like the expectation is greater or the demand comes quicker because I am getting older and slower.

You are right, acceleration is the right term. To think we went from horse to moon in 60 years, I can only imagine how my grandparents/great-grandparents felt.

I don't even want a phone with a mini-keyboard!

I wonder how many people/how often people feel that "Why learn it, it will be outmoded by the next thing before I even master it" sensation?

That definitely increases with age.