Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rice!uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!sigma!uw-nsr!gtisqr!roger
From: roger@gtisqr.UUCP (Roger Droz)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Looking Backwards
Summary: fax/E-mail hybrid: a scribble on paper is worth a lot of text
Message-ID: <943@gtisqr.UUCP>
Date: 9 Jan 90 23:06:56 GMT
References: <72168@looking.on.ca>
Reply-To: roger@gtisqr.UUCP (Roger Droz)
Organization: Global Technology International, Inc.
Lines: 67

In article <72168@looking.on.ca> brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes:
>I am not sure that text mail will stay as it is forever.
>
>I think instead that voice mail will become like E-mail.  And later,
>video mail will become like E-mail.   And eventually, mutli-media
>will become like E-mail, although I would guess that text will still be
>one of the more popular forms.
>
I think that fax needs to be included in the above list.  Fax allows
people to scribble notes by hand and deliver them with electronic
speed.  It has received great acceptance because it is familiar
(pencil and paper), yet speeds delivery over hard-copy mail.

There are many messages sent via fax that could be as easily sent via
text-only E-mail using less bandwidth.  Many messages are carefully composed
using some sort of word processing equipment, printed on letterhead,
and then faxed.  There may be some argument that fax is a more
standardized medium than E-mail, but given a more universal E-mail
system, I think a lot of people would still go through the above
process just because the receiver gets a nice looking copy of the logo
on their letterhead.

Fax, or some sort of E-mail the supports graphics, allows a reply 
where parts of the original posting are circled, underlined or crossed
out to indicate agreement or disagreement.  It is a lot easier to
cross out a couple of words than it is to use our > style quoting to
convey "I agree with you, except for this phrase."

>There will certainly be an experiment with E-mail where you type the
>address and subject, but speak the body of the message.   

The same can be said of a fax/E-mail hybrid, or a video/E-mail hybrid.
Since all messages can be conveyed over the same network (the telephone),
then a standardized header becomes a practical way to allow one computer
to file and deal with all types of messages.  In addition to the address
and subject, the header also describes to the receiving equipment the
nature of the message body to follow.  The receiving equipment may have
to switch to a different kind of modem to receive the message body, but
this is much more practical than having to publish separate phone numbers
for text E-mail, fax, etc.

>
>After that we can go through the same stages, but your message is video.
>Some people will talk to video cameras when they won't talk to answering
>machines.  One reason is you get to see yourself on-screen as you do it.
>And it's easier to edit out the bad parts than with sound.
>
I don't see video mail becoming as popular as video conferencing in
real-time.  Relatively little that we communicate via non-real-time
mail requires the clarification of gestures and facial expression.
Video mail does have the advantage of not having to be transmitted in
real-time, though.  If I could send video mail of my son's first steps
to Grandma from my home computer over voice-grade lines, I may be more
apt to send moving pictures than I am given present technology where
Grandma and I have to make special arrangements to get enough
bandwidth to send video over the phone.  (Given present technology,
video mail is best accomplished by mailing a video tape.)

Disclaimer:  I joined this discussion late.  Sorry if I introduced too
             many strange tangents.
____________
               Roger Droz       UUCP: uw-beaver!gtisqr!roger
()       ()    Maverick MICRoSystems / Global Technology International
 (_______)     Mukilteo, WA 
  (     )      
   |   |       Disclaimer: "We're all mavericks here: 
   |   |                    Each of us has our own opinions,
   (___)                    and the company has yet different ones!"