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Friday, September 19, 2003

More Personal Email

tabletemail One of the things I like about the tablet is inking (of course, it's one of the main features). I like it because it's often quicker to ink something when the convertable tablet is in slate mode. But there's an additional feature. More than a few times, I've sent email using ink, and gotten back responses that it felt a lot more personal. Interesting, since the stuff I type and the stuff I write still contains the same words (and the same thought process). But ink seems more genuine (if not, in my case, more messy).

I wrote an email a while back to Steven Vore, answering a question I get every now and then (what books are a good place to start to learn about marketing). He wrote in his blog about how personal the inked mail felt. Just today, I scrawled out an email to a co-worker, and she wrote back with a similar email.

I wonder what the psychology behind that response is? Are we programmed to think typewritten text is impersonal? Why doesn't it feel the same?

Posted at 09:24 PM in Computers, Computing, Software | Permalink

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» The Personalization Of Email from Rob Robinson's Idea Engagement Area
Great snapshot view of how send email using the "ink" capability of Tablet PCs can create a more "personal" feel to emails. [Read More]

Tracked on Sep 22, 2003 5:21:10 PM

Comments

I think there's something tied to the uniqueness of handwriting that fonts haven't been able to accommodate yet. One of my best friends in Arkansas was recently without a computer for a few weeks. Even though we e-mail each other on a daily basis I LOVED reading her handwritten letters. Her handwriting took me back to the two of us passing notes in sixth grade. Voice is the same way. I love to call someone without caller id and have them say “hi Becca” after I just say hello.

Posted by: Rebecca at Sep 20, 2003 8:04:04 AM

Peeve: I just tried to scroll your letter on the screenshot. Hate when that happens....

I don't have the same reaction to handwritten email, personally -- reading your letter above, I had a "good grief, why didn't he just type the damned thing" feeling. The doodle was cute, though. :-)

Posted by: Garrett Fitzgerald at Sep 20, 2003 9:06:43 PM

I could not agree with you more. Ink does offer a more personalized approach to communications. Esspeicially when when communicating with those who aren't overly technical. Not to mention, anytime you can throw in a personalized drawing as you have, its ALL THE BETTER. I find an ink message best just after a team meeting. Its a less formal way to deliver everyone's action items. Great blog by the way!

Posted by: ATG at Sep 21, 2003 5:30:58 AM

I could not agree with you more. Ink does offer a more personalized approach to communications. Esspeicially when when communicating with those who aren't overly technical. Not to mention, anytime you can throw in a personalized drawing as you have, its ALL THE BETTER. I find an ink message best just after a team meeting. Its a less formal way to deliver everyone's action items. Great blog by the way!

Posted by: ATG at Sep 21, 2003 5:30:58 AM

Have you read Scott McCloud's book "Understanding Comics?" Scott
wrote a text book in graphic form about comics. After reading it
I thought that if everyone had not stopped drawing when they were
six we would all be sending one another cartoons rather than prose.

I'd much rather receive a business comic letter than a letter. Let
me ask you this, when you open a newspaper and their is cartoon on
the page what do you read first before you read anything else on the
page. I know I read the cartoon.

Posted by: John Cass at Sep 21, 2003 9:16:54 AM

Handwriting ... think of your hands, the emotion in them, the strength, the softness of a woman's hand, the callousness of a man's hand. Look at the handwriting of a French person, a Brit, an Asian, each has handwriting alive with their culture, their habits, their language. There is heat in the hands, blood in the fingertips, we hold a pen or pencil with authority or casualness, let your body flow into our little scrawl. There is a dance and rhythm to handwriting. Cursive has a motion, sometimes you feel the person dance across the page, sometimes you feel them stabbing the page with anger. Ever feel your heart stop when you get a love letter from someone you're mad for? You can identify their handwriting from a mile away. Ever find old letters -- especially the envelopes with addresses of houses you no longer inhabit from your parents who are no longer living? What a pleasure to still have those when that person's heartbeat is gone, but the letters hold that heartbeat in handwriting.

That said, I still find it easier to read blogs in typewritten format. I love Chris Pirillo's blog, but sometimes the handwritten font is just too hard on my eyes when I want to read a lot quickly.

Posted by: Halley at Sep 22, 2003 7:44:19 PM

I wish you great success, good luck and a lot of fun for the future. Maybe one day you will really be the best of all.

Posted by: Jerome Marcel at Nov 18, 2004 2:30:03 AM