Email is for the birds

I have come to the conclusion emails are doomed. That's not because some geek tells me they're old-fashioned and everyone's using mybo, bebo, bookface or whatever. But because the whole concept is crap. Why would any sane person email a workmate sitting in the next cubicle and not look over the partition to talk to them? I had to laugh the other day at an email sent to all staff announcing the appointment of an addition to management. We still have no idea who this person is because no one's seen them. Whatever happened to introducing the new boss in the flesh, so we know if Chris Spitroast-Smythe is a Christopher or a Christine? I know the gender of a new boss is irrelevant, but it'd also be nice to know that if you're going to slag the new boss off, you don't do it in the wrong toilet. What brought home to me how much we rely on email, was while covering a recent international event. Most of the journalists couldn't send emails because no one knew which smtp they needed. Luckily, I had a couple of carrier pigeons in my car, so I was good to go. The event's sponsor, ironically, was an internet service provider.