At the outset I must confess that I love my email… well that might be overstating things a bit, but I certainly could not function normally without it.
Starting first thing from when I log in at breakfast time on my wife’s iMac, to check for messages from friends and relos overseas, right through till when I finally get ready for bed my whole day is dictated or at least structured around this most popular of internet tools.
Certainly, I do work online in my job, and whilst I admit to being sort of a geek in the sense that I also spend a lot of time researching the web, the fact is my ‘normal’ personal life, and what I would call my ‘usual’ traditional business work, is inextricably linked to this ubiquitous application.
And there’s lot to like about this great piece of software. For the first time there’s a chronological record of all my communications – in and out – and what I did: replied, forwarded or just flagged for action at some later time – accessible from anywhere, at anytime (with wireless)… not just at the office or at home.
To be frank, I’m not really a great user of some of the more advanced features. For example, I don’t use lots of folders like my more organised colleagues. Gets a bit untidy – read large – but I do know where everything is and just look at my real world office desk and you will see my modus operandi at work… nothing’s really changed.
So what do I hate?
Spam involving large files usually 2-3Mb PDFs. This is a biggie since it not only stops all the usual messages getting through but it also can clog the mail server when they are inadvertently sent several times, as they often are. Seems as if a sender who does not know how to optimise images or zip files properly also usually doesn’t know when their messages get through!
I don’t have a problem with HTML spam, ie the spam of choice of ‘real’ spammers since you can delete them with a single keystroke. Sure you have to do something but it’s a lot better than having to dispose of unsolicited direct mail in the recycle bin or my pet hate, fax spam – it uses my paper and toner to tell me something I don’t know or care about! And it still ends up using paper (trees) and has to be hand delivered to the trash like the junk mail and free newspapers.
My latest annoyance is those electronic receipts (you have to respond to), which tells the sender you’ve actually received their message and opened it. Why? Well just because I check my In Box continuously throughout the day does not mean I am in the position to respond immediately.
Particularly galling is a story I heard recently of an impatient sender, with time on her hands, calling the receiver (a close friend still at work late) on her mobile querying “I know you read my email at (whatever time) why haven’t you responded yet?”
I haven’t experienced that particular version of net etiquette myself but I do dislike the implication that a sender is somehow expecting you to respond at their command, not when it is convenient to you.
I’m one of the old school who humbly seeks a response ASAP, or at your earliest convenience. Call me old fashioned… but they’re about the only things I really hate about email!
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