Just Because I Understand It Doesn’t Mean I Have to Like It

Is anyone old enough to remember a time BEFORE email was the ubiquitous communication tool it is today?

Unfortunately, I am, and let me take you back to those early days.

I believe it was around 1995 when my then employer got everyone on-line (and we were probably late to enter the digital world) with new computers hooked up to the internet, and everyone with their own email address. We all figured out pretty quickly how to email each other in the office, the email program we were using at the time gave everyone an abbreviated name; I think mine was MikeA.

Anyway, soon we were asking questions. What is our e-mail address? Can we email people outside of our company? Can we give out our email address? Kind of silly questions looking back on them now – but it was uncharted territory back then.

Looking to get all this new technology home I bought a desktop computer with a dial-up modem and hooked it up to the internet. We also got our first email address – which was pretty cool – but back then nobody was emailing us, so it was kind of a big deal when you got an email. It was, however a bit of a pain to check your email broadband for your house, if available, was super expensive, so most people used dial-up. Dial-up was slow to connect, and slow once you were on-line – so checking email was a bit of a chore, especially considering how infrequently you got an email.

It certainly was a simpler time, especially for email, I don’t remember having or needing a spam folder, or anti-spam software, or having to worry about malicious email attachments. All of that would come soon enough.

Nowadays our email inboxes are overflowing every day, with the few important emails mixed in with the majority that are immediately deleted. And I won’t even talk about how I ignore my junk and spam inboxes.

So, why am I talking about email?

For better or worse, the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a torrent of emails – all ending up in my inbox. It seems like every company, organization, and news source needs to send an email about what they are either doing internally due to the pandemic, what advice they have for people, or what their product and/or service can do to hopefully, potentially bring this crisis to an earlier conclusion.

I can understand why this is happening; with so many companies shut down temporarily, they still need to maintain a presence – to let their customers, subscribers, readers know they are still active.

What I don’t like is the stretch some of these emails are making. Is it important to help your partner deal with a job loss during this stressful time? Yes, it is. Is it appropriate content for a publication that covers the pharmaceutical industry? No, not really.

Having I been picking nits with this diatribe? Of course, I have. With so many horribly affected by this virus, I should count my blessings, and I have, many times.

At least I got to vent a little, because sitting at home you kind of feel helpless, and I think most people can understand that.