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At 04:02 PM 9/9/96 -0600, Suzanne Lainson wrote (excerpted):

>I think that is one reason email has appeal. It lends itself to short
>attention spans.
>
>On the other hand, much of my web use is for research. And when I find
>something I want (such as an article) I will print it. I much prefer having
>the whole article in one piece to having it broken down into segments which
>I would then have to print separately.
>
Here's the reason I find e-mail appealing: it comes to me without being
prompted. I read Steve Outing's column as religiously as I read anything on
the Web, which is to say, I remember to go look for it once every two weeks
or so (sorry, Steve). If it were delivered to me by e-mail, I would read it
the day of publication every time without fail. I also do much of my
Internet use at home, where my 28.8 modem shares the one phone line with my
voice calls, so I would prefer to read things offline -- difficult, at best,
with Web copy.

Think of it this way, perhaps: the Web is a newsstand, where people come and
browse and a few of then actually buy things. (To whoever said 90% of the
people don't scroll past one screen of a Web page: think of how many people
walk up to a newsstand, scan the front pages and then walk away without
buying. I'd guess they're in the same ballpark). A newsletter (or whatever)
delivered by e-mail is a subscription that people want -- and that you'd
probably have a much easier time collecting money from them for (again, I'd
pay a small sum to have Steve's column delivered to me in my e-mail-box
regularly, when I might well balk at paying the saame sum to access him on
the Web. Go figure.) As the techies develop ways to make copy delivered by
e-mail a lot prettier, I'd bet we'll see a resurgence in this medium.

Thoughts, anyone?

Alan Flippen
working for, not speaking for, The New York Times
flippen@nytimes.com



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