Wear sunscreen,' then a week or so later the same speech, this time allegedly delivered by Kurt Vonnegut at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I read the first copy, smiled, and deleted it. The second time around, I noted the Vonnegut attribution, wondered about it for a split second, then again hit delete. I had no idea the speech would become a famous hoax, giving its real author, Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, her 15 minutes of fame. Vonnegut, for his part, reportedly found the incident proof of his belief that the Net is not to be trusted.
Email is really an oral medium.
It only looks like writing. It is the way we converse with each other, time-shifting across continents, writing in the wee hours of the morning, reaching out when the thought of a friend or loved one crosses our mind. We pass on gossip and flip comments. We repeat jokes. We misspell words and speak in shorthand.