don’t count email out yet

email will remain as a constant in web connectivityYesterday’s anticipated iPad intro was a major step towards a future imagined by Ben Parr over at Mashable, a world where we stay in touch by bypassing typing in favor of voice-to-text, where we’re surrounded by web connectivity via t.v., cars, and uncomputer like computers, where content evolves from text-driven to video-viewed and where social media becomes the driving force, not the passive voice.

Well. That’s quite a list, and will probably arrive sooner rather than later. In a disapointing Harris poll, two out of five adults no longer read a newspaper. Forty percent, if you’re keeping score. Worse, fewer than 25 percent of 18-34 year olds read a paper. And most readers say they won’t pay for online content.

According to Folio, magazines lost nearly $20 billion with a B in ad revenue last year. Yet despite dismal numbers for traditional mass media, teens and tweens are spending what many see as an unhealthy amount of hours online – by one study, over seven and a half daily spent surfing, gaming, texting and in general being connected.

How’s the mundane notion of email fit into the web world just around the corner? It’s not going away, it’ll just be interpreted differently. Professionally, you’ll still need an address that communicates authority. That’s the topic I tackled in my January newsletter. Read how to build a better trust score with an individualized account of your own.