Aside from it being the most counter-productive form of communication ever, I see it as a measure of covering one's inability/unwillingness to explicitely put up in writing what they really want to say. Why can't you take 15minutes to think over and write your request? Why both of us have to waste an hour to talk over stuff that can be written in 15mins and read in 5?
> Aside from it being the most counter-productive form of communication ever
That's a ridiculous statement. Some people can better articulate their thoughts if they speak it out loud, and some people can better articulate their thoughts if they write them out. Calling it an "inability" and "unwillingness" is just inconsiderate and stupid.
Inability to write is more than just inability - it's a disability that often comes bundled with "tl;dr". Some people can better articulate their thoughts when speaking and that's fine: just speak to yourself while preparing to write the letter.
I can understand the need to feel close to another human being, but it's generally what SO and such are for. And believe me, she is much more attractive than you and I don't want to be your therapist and I don't want to make you feel good. It's not my purpose and not my duty, don't try to coerce me to do this, because I won't.
The truth is that written communication requires much more mental discipline and preparation than verbal one. And that's good. Very good. Taking the time to actually think through your problem as a preparation for writing can well cause you to discover solution on your own, saving us both a lot of time.
There are situations when phone/skype call is more efficient - mainly when we need to have a short feedback loop, when we're brainstorming or on the other hand when the issue is really minor and you have no access to IM at the moment. The former case - ok, I'll talk, but send me an outline about what we're going to talk, before the call. And then stick to it, don't digress and don't talk about your cat (I love cats!). If you can't do any of those, you're just hyperactive person and you lack any mental discipline and quite frankly I don't want to talk to you. The latter case - well, ok, it's going to take 30 seconds at most, so I don't mind at all, I probably can recover and be back to work in five minutes or so.
Ok, sorry - I probably overreacted here, but that is because I read the article and then the comments there and that was such an awful experience. So don't take this personally, please, my anger is directed towards all the people who mistake their inability to write or emotional immaturity for something else.
What matters is not whether someone can better articulate his thoughts when he speaks loud. What mattes is whether his recipient will better understand that someone.
If you need to talk loud to articulate your thoughts then place a teddy bear on your desk and speak to him as you are writing email to those who prefer emails.
Personally I hate listening to "oh" and "um" as the person who just called me tries to decide what he wanted to tell me.
And some people hate the stifled feel of email exchanges. Vice and writing are nearly fundamentally different ways of communicating, and the difference is not just the physical medium. I've done interviews by email and interviews by voice (and transcribed afterwards)...it's a different flow of discussion
Well, as a resident email-lover: both matter. So even if you're like me, you sometimes have to schedule a call, which is even included in the original article. You have to take into account what everyone involved is comfortable with, and find a middle-ground.
The GP is right, though...writing and talking use different parts of the brain. In the context of the discussion, if a prospective investor wants to do something by phone, even if by all logic, email is more efficient, it may not just be the result of an old fashioned habit.
If I want something from you I'll buy you a dinner and stare you deeply in the eyes if you prefer that. But if you want something from me, please write an email.
