[TriLUG] postfix spam blocking

[Kevin Hunter]

At 10:45am -0500 Fri, 16 Dec 2011, Jym Williams zavada wrote:
> I agree with you 100% about people depending too heavily on e-mail.
> I like to remind folks that e-mail was designed to be an electronic
> version of paper mail and was never meant to be an instantaneous nor
> immediate form of communication. Instant messaging, phones and faxes
> are, however.

I'd like to explore the notion that "it was never meant to be 
[adjective]".  I too agree that people depend too heavily on email, but 
for different reasons that you've cited.  It seems to me that the 
use-cases for email came about precisely because it became effectively 
an instantaneous and reliable form of communication; I'm not currently 
aware of a better alternative for individual asynchronous communication.

 From a pragmatic perspective, if we're comparing email to a postal 
letter, I would argue it *is* instantaneous.  5 minutes (usually less) 
sure beats 2 days of postal mail, and without the incurred cost of 
various peripherals.

 From your listed examples, however, I'd argue that it's faster than a 
fax, and with better quality.  I will grant that it's not instantaneous 
in the synchronous sense of a phone call or instant message, but it has 
the advantage of not demanding attention right this second, whereas 
those two, to a large degree, do.  In regards to specifically the phone, 
it also has the advantage of being cheaper.  40 bucks (+/-) for an 
internet connection per month, compared with my friends' cell phone 
bills that I occasionally observer to be 80 or more ...

Email is inherently a text medium, and, for the foreseeable future, will 
be; it won't -- can't -- replace aural forms of communication.  But for 
most business communication, and frankly, most asynchronous 
communication (in my life, anyway), email fits the bill.  Heck, if email 
weren't dependable (defined to be reliable and fast), there are certain 
businesses that would not exist.  Gmail anyone?  Google Apps?

Cheers,

Kevin