Email is not dead. It is out of control.

Mark Zuckerberg's declaration that email is dead was ironic since this was said as Facebook launched its 'messaging' service.

In his article titled "Mark Zuckerberg says the email's end is nigh. LOL" John Naughton suggested that the "infant prodigy" misses the point - I couldn't agree more.

While soothsayers predict the end of emails citing the decline in email usage among 12 to 17 year olds, the fact remains that these young persons have not started work. And when they do, boy are they in for a culture shock!

Organisations thrive on emails. Even those users in Brunei who try to resist its use citing the lack of official status of email communications are in for a rude shock. Email communications can bind, create contracts et al. The Electronic Transactions Act made sure of that.

If what was said by the Minister in charge of E-Government in his speech delivered by the Permanent Secretary of Energy at the e-Government Executive Training Programme for Permanent Secretaries and Deputy Permanent Secretaries is anything to go by, email usage within government is likely to increase, not decrease.

So Mr. Zuckerberg, I think you are wrong. Those statistics you speak of do not represent the use of the currently accepted method of communication of the working masses.

Communicating by email and the finer points of email etiquette should be taught to 12 to 17 year olds if anything to act as a buffer between the rude shock transitioning from SMS and codespeak on social networking sites to communicating at work via emails.

Or maybe we should just go back to plain old speaking to one another.

Till the next post, stay safe online.