Hurrah 電子メール!!
I was introduced to email in college in Hawaii in the middle of the 1990s. My schoolhad Macintosh computers,before they were called"Mac," and they had small black/white screens. As for storage on personal computers, we went from using small floppy discs to save data while the computers' hard drives were 25MB or something. The email back then could sendonly plaintext and was involved with developments in computer hardware and software. Like any other computer-related progress, email changed a great deal of my life, as I built my life as an IT professional. Today, as a way of life, not only in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, but also in the United States, email is a necessary business tool. The email replaced the physicaldeliverysystem and added more beneficial features, which my recent chatting buddies in Japan didn't know or take advantage of fully. Formatting allows people to create fancy-looking presentations Hyperlinks to other pages attach and insert audio, document, photo, and video files Send calendar items with automatic reminders CC, forward, and keep copies as evidence Let recipients complete surveysor submit applications/questionnaires No matter how much content you add, it doesn't increase cost right away, unlike physicalmail Get electric signatures Save trees/paperThus, who wouldn't use email at work?I now would say Japanese businesses.I was stunned that so many Japanese professionals told me that they do not even check their email every day. Moreover, many organizations, such as banks, hospitals, and elderly care houses, donot use email as an official communication tool.For example, while American banks send us alerts & notifications and let us send money byusing only email or phone number information, Japanese banks won't use emailto confirm the availability of such a great communication tool.I probably need to write a clearer entry to make sense of the complicated situations I encountered in Japan. I was so compelledto promote andrecord the wonderfulness of email on the day of electric mail. Besides outdated cash-dependent payment systems and this anti-email bandwagon, how else are Japanese organizations developed?Oh yeah, I remember the old school boys and discrimination againstgirls/women in Japan, yet let's not branch out here this time. I am just amazed how Japanese corporationsare so rigidand uneasy to change and progress.On the contrary, Japan used to have created so many great systems that apply to the modern IT world, such as the Kanban agile management system,originated by Toyota. It sadly appears that all the glory of Japanese industries belongs to the past.Speaking of past and email, there was a classic remake of the Hollywood movie "Shop Around the Corner" which used email in its story and titled it "You've Got Mail." It was funny as the protagonists usedemail-like chat/texting; however, it clearly displayed the evolution of communication.I usually like both 'old & original' and 'new & evolved,' and I like both the movies.Yup, I do like physical mail too, especially when I can touch and feel the sender's thoughtfulness in detail. However, email beats in speed. In e-commerce IT, people are accustomed to replying to messages ASAP. As soon as possible. For urgent inquiries, you would send an acknowledgment of receiving such mailand follow-up, etc,. American ITs are no comparison to Japanese business folks, my mother said. However, it is widely accepted thatpeople reply to a business-related message by the end of the day or the next day at the latest.So if Japanese business organizations are not using email as much as Americans, what the heck are Japanese people looking at on their mobiles everywhere? All personal entertainment matters? I wonder how this goes.メールを初めて使ったのは？▼本日限定！ブログスタンプ
