Lately there have been a lot of critique against email and also a lot of ideas on how to improve email. For instance, the idea from the company Shortmail.com about a new form of really short emails . And the idea of an " email charter " by the famous internet thinker Chris Anderson, or " Work smart: conquering your email inbox " by Gina Trapani at Fastcompany. The assumption, or fact, behind that all these attempts is that the number of emails are increasing and take up way too much of our working time. Email is seen as a " time-suck ". The conclusion for most is that we need to reduce the number of emails, or make them shorter, or easier to work with, so we do not have to spend so much time with our emails. Even though all this sounds rational and sound, I am not sure that the basic premise is correct. I agree that the number of emails have been increasing, but I am also quite sure that reading and answering emails today is not necessary time wasted o...
Interaction Design, HCI, Philosophy of Design, Technology and Society