Long ago I declared that email would soon die. Perhaps, however, I spoke too soon. I do have to admit it's no longer as important to me as it once was. For example, I find trying to efficiently communicate with friends by email quite difficult. Compared to a Facebook wall posting, email seems almost as intrusive as a phone call. I'd prefer to both send and receive text messages nowadays, I guess. So email is no longer my preferred way of communicating. In a different vein, I once used to sign up for information by email but that role has been taken over with information provided by Twitter, RSS, or via Facebook pages.
So how come it's not dead? Well, email and in particular Gmail keeps evolving. I love the implementation of a 'priority inbox' and really haven't explored all the 'actions' that can be easily set up. For example, a real-estate agent in Palm Springs has entered some parimeters into the local MLS system so that it generates automatic email when a new listing meets my targeted criteria. I can easily set up to have my account automatically forward mail to another email address, in this case Jay's. I could choose to delete or automatically file the messages, as well. Add when considering the 'starring' options and improved 'labels', email may just prove to have a little life left in it.
Oh, and of course with smartphones, email can be used as a free replacement for those with limited SMS options. I surely do not pine for the days of, say, MS Outlook Express or other stand alone clients. Even more amusing by today's standards, is remembering when email and address data was accessible only from the drive on a single device.
