Two-thirds of high school and college students in the Taiwanese province of Gyeonggi claim that they “rarely use or don't use e-mail at all," according to a report by Chosun.

Although lack of email security (think spam and the insecurity about the sender's identity) plays a part, SMS or instant messaging offers instant gratification, making it a more exiting means of communication than email.

"The new generation hate agonizing and waiting and tend to express their feelings immediately," Chungbuk University computer education professor Lee Ok-hwa told Chosun. "The decline of email is a natural outcome reflecting such characteristics of the new generation."

I can't wait for the first pundit to stand up, ignore all cultural differnces and predict the death of email based on this study.

29 Nov 2004