A New and Amazing Invention: The Telephone
If E-mail had been around before the telephone was invented people would have said "hey, forget e-mail - with this new telephone invention I can actually talk to people” - Anon
I am mid-article writing with two fabulous women, Marge and Brenda, on the benefits of telephone as a medium for global conversations and learning. While searching for quotes I found the one above and it made me giggle - I couldn’t resist to share. But as I did I felt the need to write more…
Marge tells a story that when she did research into "when was your best telephone experience?" with a client before proceeding with a large scale global telephone inquiry, they found the answer was most often "as a teenager". The days of my chatting away for hours have receded somewhat (though I admit I am always up for a good conversation!) but the memory of the song and those calls flooded back to me. Remember those days when you could sit on the phone for hours - chitter chatter into oblivion, giggle until you thought you needed to seek rest-room assistance…and so forth? Still, with all my love for technology, I am realizing that the medium of real voice, in real time, has very few replacements (unless of course you are an expert in sign language, but that is a whole other conversation). Just how much that sound was important came flooding to me when a friend, Yael, called yesterday from Sydney to say she loved and missed me. She has written it in an email before, but hearing her speak it made me feel it all the more. One of the challenges with email is that for all its benefits of speed and the potential for an almost immediate real time response is that it can often fall into the trap of one-way communication. (This is a similar challenge with blogging and I am not really sure how to mediate it except to say I am aware and I invite your comments and feedback at any juncture). But back to the trap(s) of email. The potential for instant response that is inherent in the email medium is not inherent in the pathway between the sender and receiver(s). I as the sender am presuming that the receiver is sitting on their email, desperate to respond immediately to what I have just written. Also, tone over email is incredibly difficult to read, especially if you have a limited prior relationship with the person. Another memory: My mother, an IT exec, is famous for stories at her workplace, a large US multinational, where she used to call people into her office to say "Have you considered picking up the telephone, or perhaps walking over to the person sitting next to you?” Upon reflection it is in part because these tools are so new! In some ways many of us haven’t yet, or perhaps I should write, I haven’t yet, found the way to balance the appropriate medium with the appropriate message and timing. One could argue that this may be an age thing - but I would like to declare that I am on the cusp of generation X-Y and would be unlikely to think about email and text messaging much, had it not been for that fact that my focus is so often on communication in general. And I have no doubt those younger-in-earth-years than-I are finding this management no challenge at all (and will laugh when they learned at how many programs I could/couldn’t use and how I was using mediums for the wrong things…) but I don’t think it just that. Marge and Brenda and our conversations and article are all the more rich for our intergenerational (x/y, baby boomer and pre-war if you require labels) experiences with technology and new media. Human communication is a profound, crucial and beautiful evolutionary gift. In using our voices we speak our worlds into being. Our questions shape us. And our experience of being in communication and inquiry has the opportunity to grow us, teach us and share valuable skills, lessons, stories and more…I would go further to say our survival is dependent on this necessary social interaction (though there are of course individual differences in just how many interactions one needs a day…) As my social psychology lecturer would often say, in a deliciously thick Hungarian accent, "human’s are groupies".
I am suddenly hearing McLuhan’s "we shape our tools, and our tools shape us". Too often we focus on the benefits that a particular media offers, rather than considering on what it is that we are wanting to achieve and selecting the appropriate media-mix to do it and sharing our expectations of the way we are going to use the medium. As my friend, Anthony, cautions in a recent post on technology:
"Recognize the strengths and weaknesses of a tool and use it appropriately. You don’t hammer nails with a screwdriver, either, but of course screwdrivers are handy nonetheless."
"When you have a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail." Which was a very long way to come back to the idea that with all the myriad of communication tools at our fingertips, the telephone (and innovations of it such as VOIP e.g. Skype) offers a significant benefit - the use of live voice. And beyond this, it has existed in our world for a sufficiently long time that almost everyone has a positive experience with it, and are generally well versed in telephone etiquette. The interesting thing about it, however, is that the telephone is now often overlooked - though the assistance of technological advancements means the telephone is now a very cost-effective (time and money) way to meet. That said, even with all our experiences with the telephone, there is still a long way to go in terms of carrying over and sharing and evolving our learning from facilitating and in-depth inquiry to the global conversations over the telephone. And this is where our article comes in. Do share your thoughts on such things - simply add your comment below and allow the dialogue to grow…
PS On emailing: where I have found email to have been very effective is when I write as though I would write a letter to send through the post…but that takes time.
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March 17th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
As always very inspiring to read your words:) I feel that a telephone in the traditional sense, as a fixed medium of communication, will in the long to medium run turn into the equivalent of a letter. A dinosaur which will be nostaligically perceived as something precious, used only for special occasions, and associated with importance.
Replaced by voip, buddy-rss, or other inventions the future will hold it is questionable in how two generations from will still be able to used a fixed line phone as we know it!?
Big hug from CPH,
D
March 17th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
If everybody were like you, then phone company executives everywhere would be celebrating. But unfortunately and fortunately, the world is a mix of different personalities and perspectives. Some people, everybody knows at least one who fits the profile, are uncomfortable with human interaction. While to you, e-mail lacks that instant gratification of hearing somebody’s response (perhaps its a little selfish of you to expect instant gratification all the time Nat :p), to others it offers the advantage of not having to respond right away. They can take their time and formulate their opinion and arguments (as I’m doing now), they can easily correct their mistakes, they can avoid having to ask you to repeat yourself, and they’re not dictated by the pace at which you speak.
I very much prefer speaking to somebody in person than over the phone or through e-mail. When distances are too great to walk/drive over and say hi, the phone gives me some of that gratification. But there’s times when I prefer using e-mail over phone, so I thought I’d offer up a list of e-mail’s advantages:
- call waiting is annoying for the person put on hold, not so with e-mail.
- although e-mail is still mostly a visual medium, people also use it to send sound clips to appeal to your auditory sensors. Try sending pictures through the phone and you’re talking about a fax
- getting spam while eating dinner is a little less annoying when its not over the phone
- sometimes what you need to say isn’t important enough that the other person has to hear it right now. Let the other person be and they’ll get back to you in time.
- when you work in an office, its a little bit easier to hide wasting time on e-mail rather than wasting time on the phone.
- you don’t have to pay extra for call display with e-mail
- when you want to avoid staying late to wrap up a problem, a well-timed e-mail passing the problem to somebody else is far more effective than a phone conversation. With a phone conversation, they can very quickly return the problem to you. With e-mail, you’re already home by the time they get a chance.
- when you’re trying to talk to somebody several time zones away from you, e-mail doesn’t cause the person to wake up in the middle of the night
BTW, when’s a good time to reach you over Skype?
March 17th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
You’re taking me back miss natty…. I was thinking as I read this, in our conversations I was often privy to your thoughts, observations and insights, like the ones that you write up on this blog. This has become another medium in which for you to do this, but of course you are able to share them with many more people whom you think they might interest at the same time - more efficient, no? (I am sure there are many more reasons you do it than just this…) And though I’m sure this is working well for you, it still has its disadvantages - every media of communication does. As both Yoav and yourself have pointed out, all have their pros and cons whether it be telephone, email, letters, blogs, telepathy… But all have their place… even if that place may change or dwindle in the future, I guess everything evolves and you can appreciate things for what they were in the past, and hopefully for what they are in the present as well.
Just a little plug for the old letter-sauras…maybe Im a lover of old things freak, but their aint nothing like writing - and receiving one (and I dont mean those sent from eg -debt-collection agencies!). Though if you sit down to write an email as you would a letter it will carry much the same meaning, and you can add all sorts of emoticons etc to ‘personalise’ it, there’s still something that personal touch about a hand-written letter that an email on your computer doesnt quite , plus its something you can touch as opposed to swimming around in cyberspace.
Having said all that, though all these media have their place, and tele and cyber communication will continue to change and be evermore useful, as you pointed out real-time human voice and especially face-to-face communication in the same room will always have its own place, and our need for such interaction will never be overwritten by other media.
March 17th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
I wonder if teenage guys spend as much time on the phone with their friends? I suspect not. I don’t see my nephew indulging in the same way as my niece or as my own daughters used to. At the same time, I know that speaking to my girlfriends on the phone played an important reassuring note that I was okay while navigating the sometimes scary, often frustrating world I was growing into.
Regards
Esther
March 17th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
A client (Mary) had sent four (4) emails to her associate (Jane), and had not received a reply. Frustrated, she stood up, leaned over her cube and asked Jane, “Why haven’t you responded to my email?”
What a great tool. In the near future, we won’t have to talk to anyone. And there is a bonus: No more breath mints.
March 17th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
What a fabulous symphony of thoughts to start my day with!!
Clearly this is a big area and perhaps we are all thinking about it…I would love to see an intergenerational conversation or dialogue around this!
Individual responses:
Geoff - that story is hilarious!!
Esther - the reassuring element of human voice/phone calls is definately something I would like to hear more on!!
Jacq - so lovely to see you on here! I love to see you here!!
Yoav - as always argueing for the other…but I agree about the email (and of course I use it well!) Yet another example of things as being AND not an OR and finding the appropriate when to use is probably the challenge…though I do think the phone is quite a unique vehicle.
Dirk - thank you and so true…I can just imagine our children laughing when we mention words like ‘phone’ and ‘vhs’ and ‘video’ and so forth…”you had to speak with cords attached?!?”
March 17th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
I dont think the popularity has of email between humans has anything to do with the newness of email, but rather that it’s a good asynchronous means of communications. Quicker and in someways more expressive than voice - you can attach videos, quikly link your friends to other sources of information, etc.
However, voice is a clear winner when it comes to wnating to have ‘efficient’ communications, and even the phone is completely lame compared to sitting and chatting next to someone. But good luck getting the phone back as the big improvement in email is to efficiency, since the asynchronous comms method allows a ‘workflow’ where you are not dependent on a persons immediate respontese.
By the way, you ignored how cool it was sometimes receiving a hand written letter instead of an email.
March 19th, 2006 at 6:27 pm
Miss your phone calls ! As always, a delightful and thought provoking article from you - you are sooo old fashioned …just send us your skype address , we can always add a camera later !
luv,shula
March 20th, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Hello from aunty Claudy!
The telephone - the letter - and what about a personal chat… Lady Chattaly, can’t wait to have you in Amsterdam for a personal chat to see your beautiful face, your expression when you talk, to hear your voice, and see my hands waving in the air when I answer and try to stop your word flow by trying to look for this switch off button that your parents forgot.
Love you to pieces.
March 20th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Great post Nat, as always.
There is also one HUGE attraction/trap of email - that of perceived “safety” in the isolation of creation.
As we write emails, or blog comments for that matter, we are often in a safe, secluded spot of an office or a bedroom. This can lead to an odd situation where you know you are “talking” to another person, but you are also totally relaxed and uninhibited in your secluded space.
That mixed with the severe limitation of non-textual cues and stimulus, contributes to the potential for mixed messages.
:)
March 21st, 2006 at 11:48 am
[...]
« A New and Amazing Invention: The Telephone Reviving the Art of [...]
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:45 pm
…A few years back at an Institute for the Future exchange we reported on best media and as it turns out telephone is the best for detecting honesty.
People can confuse with body language and of course with one-way writing but the voice is the most authentic for truth…
April 1st, 2006 at 6:56 pm
What a thought provoking article !and so many interesting responses!!!
-the gender factor,the age factor ,the immediacy vs asynchronicity factor,the psychological factor…
But afterall it is to be expected I guess, since this I think is an issue that will influence human evolution-no I ‘m not talking/writting about the phone nor emailing or any other means of communication to that matter but communication per se.
The way I see it is that communication is inter-action and as such the issue that we have all seem to respond to so far ,one way or another, is the issue of CONTROL over this inter-action, over this reciprocal definition, over this interpersonal formation of identity.
I do agree Natalie, “human communication” - and here I would include the written word and knowledge - “is a profound, crucial and beautiful evolutionary gift” and it keeps evolving, changing us humans (and all the other species as well as the planet) allong the way.
At its best and most beautiful communication takes place live, face to face, through one’s personal involvement, and if that can not be achieved, other methods/media are being used.
The beauty of live communication lies in the fact that you can control less the encounter with the Other and therefore you are more susceptible to change.The medium and the message are proven to be, afterall, the living breathing entities themselves.
Mediation in all cases ,more or less animate, is a problem (in the meaning of the word in greek ) it puts forward the medium to the message. Gradually therefore we tend to confuse communication with information which is altogether a different species….
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:03 am
I know I’m off topic but today is the best day, as she has said
April 13th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
[...] (and interesting) exploring! (I have written on such things in various ways - for example here and here ) On a slightly related but tangental note, I hav [...]
November 2nd, 2006 at 10:54 am
[...] nbsp;technology/context and change. [For example here, here, here and here.] And it is always to read someone else say it, [...]
November 10th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
Interesting topic… I’m working in this industry myself and I don’t agree about this in 100%, but I added your page to my bookmarks and hope to see more interesting articles in the future
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