Phones are intrusive. How many times have you been standing in line in a store, while a clerk answers the 'phone and deals with that customer before you. The person on the phone wouldn't think of "butting in" to a queue, but that's exactly what they just did. When someone 'phones, we are conditioned to react like Pavlov's dog. We drop whatever we are doing, interrupt people we are talking to, leave our dinners to get cold, just to answer that bell.

So, why not let it ring, or get an answering machine? I just can't do the first. What if it really is an emergency? Answering machines have their drawbacks (like long games of "phone tag"). But there is a much better alternative: email.

If you just want to get information to someone, what could be better than email? You send it at your leisure, and they receive it at theirs. You can send an email to one person or 100 in exactly the same time. How long does it take to send 100 faxes?. You have a record that you sent it, and they that they received it. Or, they can politely ignore you with the touch of a "delete" button. You can proofread and correct before you send. (Oh, for a "rewind" button when talking to an answering machine!). And, one message or one hundred, to Calgary or Calcutta, costs the same: nothing.

With computers proliferating like black flies, one would think that email would be the medium of choice. But, there still seems to be a reluctance to use it. Perhaps it's just lack of familiarity. If so, come to the next Kawartha Internet User's Group meeting, Thursday, August 10, at the Lion's Hall, Main St. Bobcaygeon. For more details, you can reach me (at my leisure) at apanter@kawartha.net