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The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox
by
John Freeman
The award-winning president of the National Book Critics Circle examines the astonishing growth of email--and how it is changing our lives, not always for the better.
John Freeman is one of America's pre-eminent literary critics; now in this, his first book, he presents an elegant and erudite investigation into a technology that has revolutionized the way we work, communica
...moreHardcover, 208 pages
Published
October 20th 2009
by Scribner
(first published January 1st 2009)
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As I expected, this book shed some unflattering light on my online behavior. Yes, I click "refresh" on my Facebook and Goodreads.com pages more than is practical. Yes, I check my email many, many times a day. But now I understand more about why I do so (when there's a payoff, say a personal email instead of some junk mail, I get a little endorphin rush, furthering my obsession with the refresh button--Freeman and researchers liken this to the slot machine's tendency to feed gambling...more
Practical guide to mastering e-mail
Send dramatically fewer e-mails and everything else will get better, says writer and editor John Freeman. Before explaining that promise, he offers a nostalgic look at the history of mail, starting with clay tablets. He covers the changes that each new burst of speed caused along the way. Then he describes the way that today’s employees are ruining their attention spans, productivity, relationships and even their health with e-mail overload. In fact...more
Send dramatically fewer e-mails and everything else will get better, says writer and editor John Freeman. Before explaining that promise, he offers a nostalgic look at the history of mail, starting with clay tablets. He covers the changes that each new burst of speed caused along the way. Then he describes the way that today’s employees are ruining their attention spans, productivity, relationships and even their health with e-mail overload. In fact...more
It is not often that I pan a book, but there is some serious laziness associated with Freeman's work here. This book should win recognition for the gluttony of random statistics that are pulled out of thin air and impossible to validate. There are so many instances of disconnected data to back up an already tired idea -- we use e-mail a lot in this society? Really? -- that they are simple to find by doing a random scan through the book. Let me just see, oh, here is one -- "By some estimates...more
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Wow - lots of food for reflection here. Freeman first discusses the long history of our ever more rapid communication technologies -- from the clay tablet to the invention of standard time to the telegraph to the postcard to the typewriter, noting the consternation with which each new development was greeted, and the changes that it wrought in our world. Then he makes us think about what email, and this brave new world in which everyone is a writer and can reinvent their identities at will, but ...more
3.5 stars. The correct title of the book is just The Tyranny of Email, and even that title is a little strong. Freeman's not a Luddite, trying to extract humankind from the internet. He's trying to examine just how much the advent of email has affected the way we communicate, think, and feel.
I started reading this book while shopping for a new smartphone. While reading the first half of the book, which is mostly a history of written communication, I was ready to get a top-of-the-...more
I started reading this book while shopping for a new smartphone. While reading the first half of the book, which is mostly a history of written communication, I was ready to get a top-of-the-...more
Another book on "philosophy of technology" and how technology affects the human behavior and human brain... To be read with the book by Nicholas Carr "The Big Switch: Our New Digital Destiny" and the two articles "Is google making us stupid", http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/go... and "The autumn of multitaskers", http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200711/mu... "Neuroscience is confirming what we all suspect: Multitasking is dumbing us down and driv...more
I heard the author speak on public radio, and was compelled to read this book!
Things I liked:
- The reminder that communication hasn't always been this way, and that it's not necessarily ideal!
-I thought this was a great observation: "Brain imaging is beginning to show that when we get a big reward--such as a jackpot payout--dopamine, the hormone and neurotransmitter, floods the anterior cingulate, the part of the brain that appears control mechanical functi...more
Things I liked:
- The reminder that communication hasn't always been this way, and that it's not necessarily ideal!
-I thought this was a great observation: "Brain imaging is beginning to show that when we get a big reward--such as a jackpot payout--dopamine, the hormone and neurotransmitter, floods the anterior cingulate, the part of the brain that appears control mechanical functi...more
I never thought that email was tyranical. Over the years I have just gotten used to email interruptions. On my desktops I even run 2 copies of gtalk so that I get an immediate popup when new email arrives.
Now that I have read this book I am thinking more about how to get work done in blocks and not get stuck in an email loop.
The book feels padded a bit but is still an interesting read. Mobile email will only make email worse in the future. The book didn't deal with IM wh...more
Now that I have read this book I am thinking more about how to get work done in blocks and not get stuck in an email loop.
The book feels padded a bit but is still an interesting read. Mobile email will only make email worse in the future. The book didn't deal with IM wh...more
Somewhat interesting history of the mail, telegrams, etc. but I got bored with it -- too long? too discursive? Not sure, just decided to cut to the end to the recommendations.
1. Don't send. Send less and less email, especially social. It cuts down on the cycle of email, and less email will come back to you as a result.
2. Don't check it first thing in the morning or late at night. He's really talking here about the boundary between work and private life -- assuming that you are checki...more
1. Don't send. Send less and less email, especially social. It cuts down on the cycle of email, and less email will come back to you as a result.
2. Don't check it first thing in the morning or late at night. He's really talking here about the boundary between work and private life -- assuming that you are checki...more
This was a super interesting book - a history of how we humans have communicated via the written word. From prehistory scribbles to the development of the printed word, to the postal service and now email, this book takes us through the ways in which how we say something affects what we say, who hears it, how fast they receive the information and how all of that affects our understanding of time and space. It really is cool. And the end has some VERY practical tips for how to take control of you...more
The vocabulary and sentence-building capability of this author made me swoon. This was not the type of book you expect to be gorgeously written, but it most definitely was!
The story started out with great momentum tracking the history of communication from clay tablets to the telegraph to today's beeping smart phones. And it was all great! The author also offered some helpful tips that even I, a recent convert to email haterism, could take to heart in shaping the type and amount of c...more
The story started out with great momentum tracking the history of communication from clay tablets to the telegraph to today's beeping smart phones. And it was all great! The author also offered some helpful tips that even I, a recent convert to email haterism, could take to heart in shaping the type and amount of c...more
Reading this book gave me anxiety while explaining to me why email gives me anxiety; it also made me nostalgic for the time before email. I felt this way when I arrived at college, too, right before everyone first got email addresses. I wanted to keep writing letters! Obviously that didn't work out so well for me. I think it's a big loss, though. I think communicating now is almost *too* easy, and it's not necessarily even communicating, since the risk of misinterprating tone without visual or a...more
"By parceling our days into smaller and smaller units, by giving us the impression that we can reach all people, at all times, e-mail is helping to put this cycle of overworking and impatient desire for gratification into hyperdrive. We work to live, the saying goes, but when work takes everything, what's the point?"
With a provocative title like that you need a stable argument but Freeman doesn't build a case as much as he merely points out obvious truths. His argument, the...more
With a provocative title like that you need a stable argument but Freeman doesn't build a case as much as he merely points out obvious truths. His argument, the...more
a vanilla complaint about the problem of civilization; freeman shanks us to death with polite nudges, slays us with affable hints and 'histories' of communication...lets us down gently that we've all gone insane. we're all turning into a globe of mal-adjusted, half-robotic, always connected borg-tards. for all the workaholics that can't seem to turn off their screens...well...it seems to me the singularity has already arrived for these fuckwits.
Decent extended essay on how we've let e-mail take over every waking hour: "It has encouraged flotillas of unnecessary jabbering, making it difficult to tell signal from noise. It has made it more difficult to read slowly and enjoy it, hastening the already declining rates of literacy. It has made it harder to listen and mean it, to be idle and not fidget."
Of course, I checked my e-mail several times while reading this book.
Of course, I checked my e-mail several times while reading this book.
This provided an interesting overview of the history of communication technologies and some compelling examples of the types of things we might be losing by increasing our dependence on e-mail (although I would have liked more details about some of Freeman's arguments here). Freeman's suggestions for how to manage e-mail more effectively were heavily slanted toward those who use it primarily at work.
I get it, but unfortunately there is a 'the-sky-is-falling-!!' kind of feel to this book. I agree that the over use of technology is kind of undermining our society; just look at texting-while-driving (not to mention watching DVD's while driving). The author does concede that there are benefits to a lot of the technology available out there. I suppose this would do more for me if I were more of an email/internet addict.
What I've read so far is great. Do you know the average worker sends or receives 200 e-mails every day? Every day! I believe it, oh boy, do I! I have had times where I've been gone one day and have 89 new messages in my in box. E-mails can decrease efficiency and communication. I get e-mails from the people that sit less than 10 feet from me because we all want it in writing to CYA. Blerg! The author gives suggestions at the end of the book on how to end the tyranny. Not that I skipped a...more
Rie
marked it as to-read
Read a chapter in an airline magazine and it looks promising. He seems to address and explore many of the points I find myself thinking about when sitting in front of the computer screen (like right now).
Oh, if you've ever had an office job or telecommuted... this book is for you. Gives a nice historical view of the development of email and how overloaded we are today. Also gives some suggestions for a cure.
While he doesn't really tell us anything new about how email has taken over our lives, Freeman does give us a good history of the printed word from papyrus to telegram to IM, with a sense of humor.
Somewhat interesting, though as someone who doesn't have a deluge of work email, I found parts of it not as relevant as others might. The best part of the book was the last two chapters were he gives advice and a vision of a world were email is less demanding and more sane. I wish he would have spent less time talking about the development of the postal system and more time on that.
An interesting subject to read about but I found the book more of a rant about/against modern technological advances than anything else.
Rec'd by Dad.
Help, help, I'm being oppressed!
This book has a great description of why I am always stressed out - it's the tyranny of email. I am now on the path to reform - we will see how long that lasts.
This book is good for anyone who is sick of email. It's not a perfect book. It seems to suffer from the same problems of email writing - it is written more in soundbites. But it does get you thinking about how email has changed our culture.
This book is good for anyone who is sick of email. It's not a perfect book. It seems to suffer from the same problems of email writing - it is written more in soundbites. But it does get you thinking about how email has changed our culture.
Fabulous book. One of those books that you read and then say, duh why didn't anyone write this book already, it is completely true and everyone needs to think about these things. Great history of email's history (and what came before it) and how it affects us today. And some excellent specific ideas of what to do to change your relationship with e-mail. A great read.
Great background on human communication leading up to email. The author sets up the problem nicely and then offers ten tips in the last chapter. The tips are not given more than a few paragraphs explaination.
This book is everything I expected. Why the hell did I buy it in the first place?
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