Reply All: The Worst Software Feature Ever Invented?

It's hard to say which technology is the biggest offender of creating useless communications. Yesterday a woman (on her cell phone) shared her bathroom habits with me and 20 other people in my neighborhood diner. I can't imagine the person on the other end of the phone found them any less nauseating than the rest of us.

I don't blame the technologists for inventing devices that bombard us with useless information. I blame the users. Don't get me wrong. Cellular technology is one of the world's greatest inventions of all time - and it's making important contributions, especially in developing countries that will be able to skip expensive land line investments altogether.

But in western society, something that was initially marketed as a device for serious communications that just couldn't wait (e.g., emergencies) has become a huge source of idle chatter. But in the Useless Communications Sweepstakes, I believe Reply All is at least a first runner up.

"We have become so obsessed with the means of communications that have been developed, that we have lost all contact with the message that is being conveyed." 

-Ted Koppel

Hey Ted, well said.

Reply All creates thousands upon thousands of  emails everyday that:

> Do not require our action
> Needlessly divert our attention
> Build CYA cultures

How about extending today's green sentiment to the world of electronic waste? Repeat after me:  "I vow to do my part to help de-clutter the world's Inbox."

So the next time a departmental-wide email goes out announcing someone's vacation, does your "Have a good time!" response really need to go out to 50 people?

Many thanks to my client Paulette Ryan for inspiring this piece.