Reply to None
by Mack on September 15th, 2008
First, let me get the disclaimers out of the way. I love technology. My MacBook Pro is virtually an extension of my body. It’s an old (in internet years) friend that I can’t imagine living without (until the next model is out, anyway). I am in no way a modern-day Luddite ready to shirk technology in favor of the simple life.
That being said, let me now say: I really hate email. More accurately, I hate the assault on communication that email is being used to perpetrate. Email is a good and noble idea that has been twisted into a tool which confuses more often than it clarifies. At least that has been my experience recently.
I work for a small health food company with fewer than 50 employees. Communication shouldn’t be a problem, right? However, the owners of the company (not particularly tech-savvy individuals) insist that every item be emailed to every officer (all family members) and manager in the company, no matter how mundane or unrefined. This results in a log jam of responses to what, in most cases, are simple questions or idea seedlings. Uninformed participants waste time and energy being brought up to speed on issues that will ultimately have no effect on their areas of operation.
I can send a simple email asking about the standard shipping cost for a large order (which in another company would only need to be sent to the shipping manager) and I am immediately buried under a blizzard of emails from the Controller, the CFO, the Network Administrator and other employees who should have better things to work on.
“Are we charging enough?”
“We aren’t getting ripped off are we?”
“What are shipping charges?”
ARGHHHHHHH!!!
What’s a guy to do? Well, maybe I’ll take a break from the email treadmill for a while. As I’ve pointed out, it’s a small company, the walk isn’t very far and I could use the exercise.

