October 24, 2008, 7:11 PM — I have a friend always after me to write a book about what he calls “the e-mail train wreck,†which I probably should seriously consider. I thought about him when writing my latest Network World newsletter called “Get More Work Done With Less E-mail.â€
The idea in the newsletter is that many companies are using products that support communication between co-workers while bypassing e-mail altogether. After all, some folks can't find the top of their desk for all the spam spilling out of their computer monitor. And programs that foster group collaboration include ways for team members to communicate within the application, through wikis or threaded discussions and the like.
I guess even the New York Times thinks this is a point of pain for many, since they also ran my “Get More Work Done with Less E-mail†story on Thursday October 23rd. It would be nice to find out the editors of the New York Times searched the Internet and picked my article above all others, but it turns out Network World has a syndication arrangement with the New York Times.
So, I'm in the New York Times, kinda, which is better than nothing. No New York Times editors have called demanding my help with another issue, which is sad. At least a few more people get to read my ideas that communication doesn't always demand e-mail. In fact, many have found e-mail hinders communication. And that's before you start counting all the spam being delivered this year.
