The Tyranny of E-mail (28 page)

CAN-SPAM Act (2003),
126

Canada, digital divide in,
186

Canter, Laurence,
121-22

Carr, Nicholas,
142
,
176-77

catalogs,
57

Catholic Church, message system of,
28

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),
50-51

change, movement as metaphor for,
133

childhood, and letter writing,
32-33

Cisco, research by,
7
,
107

Civil War,
68
,
70-71

Cixous, Hélène,
25
,
181

Clinton, Bill,
182
,
184

Committee on Oversight and

Government Reform, U.S.

House,
182

communication modes of,
2-3

one-to-one,
98

speed of,
3
,
12-13
,
20-21
,
67-68

technologies as affecting,
64-65

writing as means of,
146-47

See also
face-to-face communication;
specific type of communication

Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA),
130

computers,
13
,
21
,
93
,
94
,
95
,
102
,
145
,
180
,
189
.
See also
ARPANET

Congress, U.S.,
36
,
69
,
86
,
181
,
182

consciousness,
102-4

consumers,
200-201

context,
166
,
195
,
202-3

conversations,
206
,
207
.
See also
face-to-face communication

crime,
48-51
,
117
.
See also
hackers; phishing; privacy issues; viruses

cyberbullying,
150
,
156-57

DARPAnet,
118

dead-letter offices,
35

death,
181

Defense Department, U.S.,
91
,
118

democracy,
21
,
25
,
158

dictation,
44-45
,
48-49
,
79

digital divide,
186-88

direct mail,
55-58

disinhibition,
6
,
152-57

domain names,
92
,
123

Don’t Send,
203
,
206-8

DotComGuy,
170

e-books,
178

E-COM,
59-60

e-mail

access to,
134

accidental sending of,
115

addiction to,
16
,
133
,
134-39
,
165

address for,
92
,
143-44
,
147

archiving/preserving,
128
,
180
,
182-83

backlog of,
212

beginning of,
92
,
93-97

benefits of,
102
,
192

brevity of,
215

checking,
4
,
195
,
205
,
208-13
,
214

and complex matters,
217-18

control of,
108-9
,
110
,
111
,
204-21

convenience of,
5

cost of,
11-12
,
93

deletion of,
180

democratization of,
149

desensualization of,
97

and digital divide,
187

feedback cycle of,
19

first,
20-21

forwarding of,
98
,
109-13
,
116
,
147
,
205

giving up,
213

good,
214-16

government surveillance of,
129-31
,
182

groups working by,
218-19

identities for,
149-50

impact of,
5
,
133
,
166
,
220

increased usage of,
97-102

losing,
7

and loss of public space,
174

manners and standards for,
112-16

as messaging treadmill,
206

mistakes in,
205

and need for slow down,
192

nonparticipants of,
9

nonresponse to,
7

and “now,”
185

offending recipients of,
107
,
108
,
145
,
205
,
208
,
217-18

overload of,
7-9
,
93
,
110
,
206
,
220

paradox of,
166

popularity of,
4-7

and privacy issues,
112-15

reading,
216-17

reliance on,
207

as reorienting time,
7

e-mail (
cont.
)

responding to,
104-5
,
106
,
108
,
137
,
206
,
210-13
,
214-17

as social and broadcast tool,
110

solutions for dealing with,
206-21

as source of news,
174

speed of,
20
,
103
,
105
,
115
,
211

storage for,
3

and to-do lists,
213-14

tone of,
6
,
150-57
,
208

trying to keep up with,
205

tyranny of,
19-20

uses/functions for,
105-6
,
112

as visual language,
107-8

volume of,
4
,
5-6
,
20
,
100
,
103-4
,
105
,
148
,
160
,
206

White House,
182-83

Edison, Thomas,
55
,
80

education,
21
,
31-32

egoSurf,
168

elderly,
172
,
186
,
187

electronic erosion,
5

“Elkins” (blogger),
151-52

Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
96
,
154

employees,
186-87
,
197-98
.
See also
office workers; work

employers,
128
,
166
,
179
,
197-98
.
See also
business; work

Engelbart, Douglas,
94
,
96

England.
See
United Kingdom

envelopes,
24
,
33

Europe,
69-70
,
74
,
83
,
117
,
128
,
186

Excite,
149

eyes,
14-16
,
96-97
,
154

face-to-face communication

breakdown in,
170
,
172-73

and complex matters,
218

and identity,
151-58

and isolation,
16-18
,
195
,
201-2

lack of,
49
,
206

and loss of public space,
170-76

and manifesto for a slow communication movement,
195
,
200-202

text compared with,
106-7

and working groups,
218-19

Facebook,
2
,
12-13
,
17
,
126-27
,
140
,
157
,
166-67
,
168
,
173
,
201

Fair Labor Standards Act (1938),
165-66

fax machines,
58
,
59
,
85

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
50

Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
59-60
,
173

feelings, expressing,
2

Fictionwise,
178

FireEye,
123

flaming,
151-53
,
157

Franklin, Benjamin,
32-33
,
35
,
73
,
146

friendships,
201-2
,
207

Gaia Online,
178

Gates, Bill,
127

gender,
32
,
40-41
,
44
,
45

“global village,”
186

globalization,
21
,
77
,
184

Goleman, Daniel,
153
,
155
,
157

Goodwin, Doris Kearns,
180-81

Google,
3
,
11
,
168
,
174
,
175
,
176

Gore, Al,
86-87

government

mail as tool of,
25-28

monitoring of mail/e-mail by,
50-51
,
129-31
,
182

and privacy issues,
129-31

Great Britain.
See
United Kingdom

Great Depression,
57
,
166

GTE,
93

hackers,
116-20
,
124

Hafner, Katie,
90-91
,
139

Hamblet, James,
61-62
,
64

Hamilton, Alexander,
56
,
73

handheld devices,
101-2
,
134
,
135-36
,
164
,
165
,
178
.
See also type of device

health issues,
161

history

family,
180

of mail,
24-30

preservation of,
179-83

Holub, Miroslav,
185

horses, as carrying mail,
27-28
.
See also
Pony Express

hostility, in telegrams,
81

Hotmail,
149

humor, in telegrams,
81

Iacoboni, Marco,
6-7
,
156

identity

and address,
143-44
,
146

and changes in how and what is read,
178

and digital self,
143-45

for e-mail,
149-50

and face-to-face communication,
151-58

false,
149

and privacy issues,
149

and writing way into existence,
146-58

individuality,
168

Industrial Revolution,
165
,
198

information

amount of,
198

creating,
142-43

faulty,
185

missing,
188-89

overload of,
5
,
75-80

storage of,
198

transmitting,
142-43

Intel Corporation,
93

Internet

access to,
204

benefits of,
196
,
203

boundlessness of,
181

as community,
187

consequences of,
93
,
100-101
,
194-95
,
196

convenience and speed of,
194-95

development of,
95

and Great Britain,
91

highway system as analogous to,
131-33

history of,
86-92

as host for spreading viral minds,
103

importance of,
13-14
,
21-22

and manifesto for a slow communication movement,
198
,
203

spread of connections to,
93
,
99-100

See also specific topic
interruptions,
139-43
,
178
,
208
,
211
,
213

Interstate Highway System,
131-33
,
200

isolation,
16-18
,
195
,
201-2

James, Henry,
44
,
81
,
178

Johnson, Steven,
95
,
171

junk mail,
55-58
.
See also
spam

Kennedy, John F.,
50

keyboards,
95

Knuth, Don,
204
,
213

letter-writing manuals,
32

letters anonymous,
49-50
,
146

answering voluminous,
54-55

art of writing,
51-53

authenticity of,
48-50

essential,
52

formal,
107

and gender,
32

golden age of,
30-33

length of,
215

preservation of,
180

sensuality of,
107

and time,
85

and writing as means of

communication,
147
See also
mail

libraries,
186
,
188

Lincoln, Abraham,
38-39
,
71

LinkedIn,
102

Listserv,
28

literacy,
31
,
187
,
196

love poem, oldest,
1-2

Lumeria,
149

machines dangers of,
159-60

dependency on,
189
,
194

and manifesto for a slow communication movement,
198

symbiotic embrace of,
11-12
,
21-22
,
95-96
See also specific machine

magazines,
177

mail address for,
24-25
,
29-30