Subject: How has e-mail changed your writing?

From: [email-masked] (Barbara Weiss)
Date: Sun, 5 Nov 1995 21:54:05

I'm working on a project for a masters-level class in Computers and Writing, 
and would like to join/follow/play-with a discussion group on how e-mail has 
changed your/our writing.  Have I come to a likely place?  Has e-mail affected 
your attitude toward writing? mood? frequency? style? Has it helped to flatten 
hierarchies, especially in the workplace?  Eliminated work?  Increased it?  
Aided communication, or hampered it?  Anybody want to get us started?  Thanks! 
 Your pal, bew.

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From: "Richard P. O'Sullivan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 11:02:01 -0500

On Sun, 5 Nov 1995, Barbara Weiss wrote:

> I'm working on a project for a masters-level class in Computers and
> Writing, and would like to join/follow/play-with a discussion group on
> how e-mail has changed your/our writing.  Have I come to a likely
> place?  Has e-mail affected your attitude toward writing? mood?
> frequency? style? Has it helped to flatten hierarchies, especially in
> the workplace?  Eliminated work?  Increased it? Aided communication, or
> hampered it?  Anybody want to get us started?  Thanks!
> 
>  Your pal, bew.

Barbara,

    Yes, I believe email has changed the way we communicate in the work 
place.  Until recently, I worked for the US Army Research Laboratory 
where we used email to assign, coordinate and report our work.  I think 
the government, in general, has been very quick to use email.  Government 
work is mostly about collecting and disseminating information and email 
is ideally suited to it.  Since the Internet was initiated by the US 
Government's Advanced Research Project Agency, it was natural that email 
use should have spread quickly.  Of course, it is easy now for anyone 
to get an email account.

    Because electronic mail provides written information to groups of people
simultaneously, it improves over telephonic and oral communication, in many
(most ?) cases.  My group worked with data and analysis.  The quality of 
information exchange was greatly improved once we adopted email.  Before 
email, data was often transcribed from phone calls which usually resulted 
in less data communicated and more errors.  After email, we obtained much 
more data which we could immediately cut and paste into our studies.  I 
would not say the we did less work but more productive, quality work was 
done.

    In the old days, most written communication required approval up the
hierarchy.  The main reason for this was that it was written, which gave it
more stature.  Most of it was coordination between functionaries at the smae
level of different organizations and did not need to be hoisted up the food
chain.  Today, this information is routinely exchanged between the
functionaries with only a Courtesy Copy (CC) sent to the chiefs.  Information
gets to where it's needed sooner. 

    Good luck with your thesis.

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Altofirma Web Works                                Richard P. O'Sullivan
http://www.aww.com/                                      [email-masked]
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