My crystal ball on email

Imagine a world where anyone can send you a message about anything at any time for free.

Imagine that you have a gatekeeper who knows exactly what you want to know about and what you don’t and only allows those messages you care about to get to you.

This imaginary world is the future of email.

Frankly, we are almost there.

The first world has been around for a while now and the downside of that world is known as spam.

The second world is emerging. The gatekeeper is known as a spam filter. The spam filtering technology that currently exists is a crude approximation of what we will eventually have.

Technology is an amazing thing. It evolves, gets better, cheaper, more efficient every day. And so it is with spam filters.

Soon they’ll know exactly what you want to get and what you don’t. As your tastes change, they’ll know that too. They’ll tell the emailers what you want, what you don’t, how often is too much, how often is too little. They’ll be your filter to the world.

Get used to the idea. It’s coming fast.

Comments

[hugh macleod]

I can't wait, frankly. My webmaster blocks all e-mail from Russia, Korea and China because of spam.

[hugh macleod]

PS: What's your call on the future of search engines? Not to be to Sci-Fi about it, but surely if enough A.I. was installed onto the internet, internet spiders etc, then the internet would eventually start acting like one huge brain. To me, the possibilty of a "concious" internet is more feasible and closer to realisation than a concious, self-contained robot on two legs.

[Crystal]

That's a great idea but I think spam is like ilnesses. When you create treatment for one of them, another one is here. Spam will always find its way to exist. I hope it's just my pessimism...

[raven on a branch]

I don't get it.

If you are in business, your day is filled with email from subordinates, bosses, customers, and miscellaneous.

Subordinates are easy: you actually talk to them, and set guidelines. Then you get less email. Yummy. They spend more time on the essentials, and so do you. Tech CAPEX: $0.00

Bosses are easy, too. Read all of it.

Customers are easy: read all of it. Immediately.

"Miscellaneous" falls into a few categories. There is unsolicited spam (for which we have filters); there is email from buddies, hubbies and flirts (it is easy enough to have an email client sort these for you in folders); there are notices from companies you do business with (like magazines); and finally, there are over-the-transom emails from people that someow got your email address. These last need a fast scan, because, well, ya never know.

So exactly what is the AMAZING TECHNOLOGY OF THE FUTURE going to do??

The hard reality is this: email as it is used today is a terrible blight on corporate productivity. The good news is that good management and training fixes the problem. The technology exists: it is called competent management.

Here is another reality: in technology, every "solution" creates its own problems. Only fools tout utopian visions in this game.

Next!

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