Theory: iPhones shrink email

[Stephen Tashiro]

I've had email correspondence with several people long enough to be able to compare their pre-iPhone letters with their post-iPhone letters. After they buy an iPhone, most of the email is done with the phone. In their pre-iPhone days, their emails were several thoughtful paragraphs. After they get an iPhone, their emails shink in size and they are more like "tweets". Is this typically what happens when people buy an iPhone? ( I myself don't have one.)

[phil harold]

They type with their thumbs on an iphone instead of an actual keyboard
I get some email from iphones that I have problems reading the lines, let alone reading between the lines, to figure out what they actually are trying to convey.

[Keith Outten]

Stephen,

I believe your theory is true. Although some people are able to type long messages on a tiny iPhone keyboard many cannot so they abbreviate their messages. I check my email on my phone but 99% of the time I wait until I am able to use a computer or an iPad to respond.

If you have been a woodworker for decades you may have problems with your hands and fingers that make it extremely difficult to type on very small keyboards not to mention how hard it is on an older pair of eyes.

If I receive an email that contains a substantial number of text message speak types of abbreviations I delete the message because I think its disrespectful to do so in an email.

My2cents

[Myk Rian]

I use a predictive text keyboard on my Android. Makes typing complete words and sentences a lot easier.

[Eric DeSilva]

I've started using voice input for emails on my phone. I hate typing on the phone, but have enough patience to correct the voice recognition. Wonder if that means emails will get longer again once people start using that technology...

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I think your theory is a good one. I prefer to respond to email when using a full size keyboard on my desktop or laptop because I can 120+ wpm with all my fingers. When using my iphone, I am using 1 finger to type which is so slow for me. With the new iOS 7 update, I seem to have more trouble moving the "cursor" around to where I need it to go when I need to select & edit text. I use Siri too, but Siri is not that accurate for me, so I still need to edit a lot of text via 1 finger. Due to the all those factors combined, I typically respond with a quick message to acknowledge the email was received and say that I will respond in more detail when I can get to a computer.

[Mike Henderson]

Given some of the never-ending emails I occasionally get, having something that will force people to be more succinct is not all bad.

Mike

[Jim Rimmer]

Given some of the never-ending emails I occasionally get, having something that will force people to be more succinct is not all bad.

Mike

+1 on that comment

[Larry Browning]

The same thing was said about email compared to a actual letter written on paper and sent via the post office. The thinking was that an email is a less formal form of communication, nobody pays any attention to proper grammar and spelling. To me, if I see a bunch of abbreviations and acronyms I just stop reading.
I can remember my mother would always sit down at the kitchen table every Sunday afternoon and write letters to all the relatives to be mailed on Monday. She would get responses all during the week from them. It was always a fun time having her read them to us. This went on all throughout my childhood. I really miss those days. Emails and text messages just seem so impersonal. Something about the anticipation of getting the mail each day is missing when all I ever get now is bills and junk mail.

[Jim Rimmer]

I think it is an on-going spiral. Email killed personal mail; Facebook killed email (except to forward something you though was funny or preposterous); Twitter is killing email. With each step, the communication is getting shorter and less formal. I guess soon we'll just send each other a smiley face emoticon and not waste our time with words.

[Matt Meiser]

given some of the never-ending emails i occasionally get, having something that will force people to be more succinct is not all bad.

Mike

lol

Sent from my iPhone

[Frank Drew]

I think it is an on-going spiral. Email killed personal mail; Facebook killed email (except to forward something you though was funny or preposterous); Twitter is killing email. With each step, the communication is getting shorter and less formal. I guess soon we'll just send each other a smiley face emoticon and not waste our time with words.

Along with people having less patience to write long messages, I've also noticed that many people don't have the patience to read long texts, not just email texts, either. And that's going to make advanced education harder to achieve for those so "afflicted".