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Do You Know Any People Who Won't Use Email?
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my business (asset recovery) is usually based on fast paced decisions (how can i do that when i am on TC all day?) that require instant information. the only way to do this is by using technology. i use a laptop, iPhone, digital photos and video. without email, we would be thrown back years and lose many deals.that being said, i have LOTS of old timers (not just in age) and tech-phobia people who insist on not only NOT using email but are almost afraid of a fax machine. (do we even have a fax here at my office?) i had this conversation with a guy just yesterday:
me: sounds great, we are interested. can you email me a spreadsheet with the inventory?
guy: uhm....wellllll.....yah...uhmmm...
me: what about faxing something?
guy: i was kinda thinking i would just put it in an envelope and send it to you.....
me: okey-dokey. call you back in two weeks when i get it
this deal is not going to happen as we will have move light years forward by the time it gets here
(i did see a guy with a beeper on his belt at a board meeting last night)
Mod
I even tried to get rid of my cell and rely on email as my only communication but my sweeter and my mother in law wouldn't have it. Everyone else knows that to try to reach me any other way is futile.
But I answer when either of them call to humor them.
sally makes me laugh - the first line of #3 did it to me
Sure, an email can be less personal than a phone call, because it's not that immediate contact with the other person. You can't hear nuance in an email. You call your friends to figure out what you want to do on a Friday night, and to chat about how you're doing.Email is great for business, keeping in touch with coworkers on projects, especially when it's not an urgent matter.
And it is perfect for communicating with groups of people all at once. That phone tree thing is ridiculous. Okay, call the people who don't have computers or email, but email the rest.
I was getting milk and meat from these Mennonite farmers at the market all summer. Near the end of the season I was telling them how I was going to miss their milk. He said lots of people had been saying the same thing and he wanted to get a list of people because he would deliver if there were enough of us. I wanted to give him my email address so he could add me to the list but he said he doesn't use email. He suggested I pull together enough people to make up $1000 worth of milk (!!!) and then call him and he would deliver. I wish I had thought to say, "ever hear of a sign-up sheet?!" but I was too stunned.
whatcha got der is yur milk co-op don't ya know
Hah!
it mostly depends on your audience, what kind of users.Yep, to answer your question. I know plenty.
I ♥ my email. I don't ♥ my phone. I have this aversion to talking on the phone, even to people I know. It's like everything I might want to talk to them about flies out of my head the minute I have to talk into a little metal object that makes my hand fall asleep from holding it up to my ear. I can express my thoughts sooo much better through writing. I don't get people who have an aversion to it.My Mom is a techno-phobe. We finally got her to accept email, but she refuses to have more than 5 emails in her inbox at a time, and really can't figure out how to move things to folders (though I've shown her a million times). She thinks there should be a magic button for anything to happen according to her wishes, and when it doesn't appear she goes off. Maybe she's not a techno-phobe, just a techno-hater.
I know a lady who won't use computers at all. She won't call anywhere that has an automated phone system. She won't use cds or dvds. Or cell phones...So, she's just shooting herself in the foot.
I'd rather talk on the phone, but email is great too, not having to worry about what time it is especially, doing things on my time schedule and letting my friends do their thing on their schedules.
I think that email is great too, just fir that fact Leslie. I will respond when I have time and can give it my best effort.
That part really is good, sitting down at 2am, reading and responding to my emails. I love to chat on the phone, but sometimes it's just too time consuming. And it is nice, too, like Sherrie said, expressing myself in writing, being able to re-read and change my message before I hit send. That's an advantage. But talking to my mom or sisters or friends for an hour on the phone is a treat that email can't take the place of. I think that will always be true for me.
I loathe talking on the phone so email is definitely the best way to communicate with me. Plus, my work hours are odd. It annoys me that my parents won't get with the program---they use their PC to play Solitaire for cryin out loud. Then again they are in their early 70s so I guess I should be patient.
My mom and my daughter are the two computer savy people in the family--skipped right over me.
Mod
Yeah, I can use the computer, but one little glitch and I'm lost. I dont' seem to have any intuitive feeling about what might be a good idea to do if something doesn't work like it's supposed to. But, yes--I do like using computers and chatting with you guys!
Two instances:
1. At a church I used to attend we put together an email list for news and the pastor (an older woman) hated it. She wanted a phone tree instead for news. A phone tree! For, like, reminders of a bonfire or whatever. She said email was too "impersonal".
2. There are a couple people with whom I work who, rather than send an email, will leave long, rambling messages on my phone. What the hell?
Comments? I know it's not all about me, of course, but I don't get people who never use email and treat the tool as if it's the end of western civilization and personal communication.
What do you think? For what is email/electronic communication/texting good, and what should be communicated in another mode? Pros and cons?