Issue #2

In my opinion, email is still an entirely viable communication medium, especially in the business world. I believe that the numerous problems we experience with relation to email are in fact operator error. I agree with Leahy on all his points with respect to our attitudes and tone when writing and receiving emails, and I also agree that following the many tips and guidelines following the article would clear up confusion as well. What I don't think it will do is solve the real problem of the general persons inability to write well (myself included :/ ). Perhaps we have come to rely on email too much, which has in turn caused us to ask more of ourselves than should be expected. If you received an email from Hemingway or Tolkien I think the tone and message would be quite clear because of their ability with words, the problem is more of the authors in our inbox resemble Kerouac in "On the Road". To reference to the communication process, don't try to encode what you can't encode. Just because you think your being sarcastic, does not mean your reader is. Call it what you like, audience centered or otherwise, but as far as business email is concerned just K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid!).