Editor’s Corner:
E-MAIL IS NOT THE KILLER APP

I think we’ve been watching science fiction movies for decades with characters in the year 2050 and beyond talking to their colleagues in other galaxies on big TV screens.

That time is approaching us now. First the screen had only letters on it but eventually live images in real time will be there. Right now we write messages in one e-mail box to people around the world and are ecstatic that we can do so without any extra transmission costs. A global telephony network, entwined with the Internet, is rapidly taking shape with pricing that may be as low as what we now pay for local calls.

As video teleconferencing advances with more affordable peripherals, PC’s will become those TV phones we once thought were far into the future. And judging by past human behavior, people prefer to see something move rather than read about it moving. Thus video mail will prevail. And you thought voice mail was time consuming. Wait till you get v-spam, junk video mail!

And what if frustrated filmmakers or rock musicians exploit this medium? Would we receive short documentaries or MTV type messages? I won’t even touch on pornography. So much for those "breather" calls.

Yes, teleconferencing and video mail will make ordinary e-mail look as old fashioned as black and white TV. If you’ve resisted change before, you will find this one the biggest yet. And for those early adopters out there, I know you already have the equipment in place and are just waiting for the rest of us to gear up and call.