

Thought experiment: why is texting more popular than email? - jmatthews

I recently did business with a guy that uses email in essentially the same way most people use text.<p>We were working out the terms of a contract and it had the feel and immediacy of a typical text exchange.<p>I started thinking about how much better the tools are for email and how the two technologies essentially satisfy the same need.<p>What is it about texting that is superior to email?<p>Less spam. A higher expectation of immediacy. A much higher open and read rate.<p>But the tools for email are far more sophisticated.<p>What does it take to make the arguably superior technology capture the advantage that texting currently has?
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anigbrowl
I find your example easy to relate to, as my wife uses email that way - I
sometimes tease her that she's not getting charged by the word.

The difference between the two choices is the low mental overhead of texting.
When you text, you can write a small amount of text, maybe include an emoji,
or a picture. That's it/ You can't format the text, you don't want to write
long paragraphs, and your other options are similarly limited. You just focus
on the content because the wrapper is virtually non-existent.

SMTP-based email, by contrast, is a big messy ball of wax. Emails can be as
complex as any other kind of business document - thousands of words, bullet
points, headings, different fonts, multiple attachments, recipient lists,
routing specifications...zzz.

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jmatthews
I've drawn a similar conclusion. The difference is primarily context. Because
email is ubiquitous. Wouldn't solving the ux issues with email make for a
killer app?

