[FoRK] The death of email?

[Luis Villa]

On Jan 23, 2008 5:00 PM, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 23, 2008 at 04:38:48PM -0500, Luis Villa wrote:
>
> > You have a funny definition of easy, but yes, I'll agree on feature rich.
>
> Doesn't easy mean the one most looking the like the real world?

Not necessarily.

(And where in the real world do I put my pants on with a keyboard?)

> > I should have added (I thought it was assumed) that these were
> > features that solved problems people have. College students have the
>
> College students is a reasonably small demographic.

College alums is a huge demographic; not just numerically the majority
of adults, but also arguably about the only one that matters to
advertiser in the US.

The question, of course, is whether college students who use facebook
become college alums who use facebook. My hunch is that many will, but
I agree that it isn't as set in stone as it might be.

> > solves that problem; email doesn't. The list of such features could be
>
> I wonder why one would need email to throw parties. That's just completely
> mind-boggling.

Because it is faster to email 20 (or 200) people than to call them?

> This sentence no verb. Sure. Seriously, who here much over 30 has time
> to burn in WoW?

I don't have time to burn in either SL or WoW. I don't see what that
demonstrates about FB, though.

> > WoW (relative to SL) solves a problem- by providing goals and a
> > storyline, it gives people something to *do* that is relatively
> > mindless. SL says 'here is a pile of tools.' Unless you're one of the
> > rare people who has a self-directed creative software itch, SL isn't
> > solving your problem.
>
> I thought those virtual worlds are the most interesting which were
> open-ended, thus resembling life.

You may notice that in life, most people don't choose open-ended
entertainment. They choose entertainment with a plot provided by
someone else.

Luis