I n the days when people wrote letters on sheets of paper, using instruments called pens, there were certain conventions. One was that the author wrote in full sentences ending with punctuation marks. Another was that spelling errors wereavoided, lest they be interpreted as a sign of ill-breeding. Electronic mail has seized the cursors of the masses.
Electronic mail is the literary equivalent of a grunt.
Every moment of every day, waves of useless chatter rush down copper wires, cross ocean floors, sweep the globe, bounce off satellites, and dissipate into outer space. In a million years, the collected gossip of twentieth century personkind will envelope the alien inhabitants of a distant galaxy in electronic smog. One third of the e-mails you are likely to receive in your lifetime will be the bumbling, incoherent efforts of your friends, relatives and colleagues. Our class in Little Falls, Wisconsin is doing a project for tomorrow on Africa. Please send all the info.