At debatewise.org, there’s a debate in which numerous contributors say why they think e-mail will be gone sooner or later, and why they think it won’t. “Is email a dying form of communication,” the debate begins.

It’s a question we must ask, because all around us, we see people — especially younger people — using e-mail less and less. In fact, CNET reported way back in 2009 that some young people mean “Facebook” when they say “email.”

Debatewise summarises the contributors’ opinions:

Why e-mail will die out: Young people won’t use it, it’s a poor communication model, and people expect more instant responses.

Why it won’t: It can handle lots of text, it’s the “most adaptable and multi-platform means of communication,” it’s better for use at work, and it’s more private — among other reasons.

The alternatives to email are many: IM, social media, new platforms such as Slack, and SMS — among others.

The “father of email,” Ray Tomlinson, actually explained in 2012 why e-mail will never die. He notes that “how we use it has remained virtually unchanged for more than 40 years.” Tomlinson argued that “none of (the alternatives) really fill the space that email serves, which is you have a specific audience.”

Think about it. Email got a bad rep when spam began and bloated; there have been numerous ways of dealing with spam that have sprung up since. Unless you’re too lazy to configure a good spam filter (or unless you refuse to use, say, Gmail), spam is hardly the problem it was ten years ago. Then, with IM, you type in a message, and say you don’t get a reply. You minimise the chat window, continue working, and wait for a notification — distracted all the while.

SMS and WhatsApp are either too limited in terms of text or too hurried. And social media? Like SMS, it’s too rushed; you want a response right away. There’s no real composing of anything, if the term still holds meaning. But I’d say the biggest complaint is it’s not suited for work.

Emma quotes eMarketer: For 69.7 per cent of internet users, email is the preferred method of communicating with businesses.

Talking about marketing, it seems hard to believe, but one in five consumers say they read every email newsletter they receive just to see if something’s on offer — according to Forrester Research’s 2014 North American Technographics Survey.

The last (and most poetic) verdict might be Paul Buchheit’s, who is the creator and lead developer of Gmail: “Email is not going to disappear. Possibly ever. Until the robots kill us all.”

Tags : Email, cnet, Ray Tomlinson