Snailmail versus e-mail

I just logged off of Facebook and doubled-clicked on Microsoft Word 2007, which just pulled up a blank document. As I leaned back in my chair, I noticed my CA390 syllabus poking out of a folder reminding me about my online homework assignment.

By Tiffany Gilbert

Editor in Chief

I just logged off of Facebook and doubled-clicked on Microsoft Word 2007, which just pulled up a blank document. As I leaned back in my chair, I noticed my CA390 syllabus poking out of a folder reminding me about my online homework assignment.

Underneath my syllabus was a blue notebook and pen. After I blew the dust off of it, I began writing my friend Sarah a letter. You see, a few times a year, I’ll write a letter on actual notebook paper, attach a goofy drawing, slip in a few issues of the Setonian and mail it to Kent State.

Using snail mail, the package will arrive in Ohio in about two to three days. Sure it took me about an hour to write the letter, fill the envelope, and root around in my jumbled mess of Post-It notes to find Sarah’s address. For many people, receiving a physical letter in the mail is worth more than a text message. Technically, I could have even sat in my communications class on the computer and sent a bumper sticker via facebook to Sarah’s profile. She would have received it instantly and I would have saved about 88 cents in postage.

Aside from the increasing expenses to mail a few bland pieces of paper via snail mail, I like to think receiving a physical object from the post office offers thrill and excitement. I like to do it so I’m not constantly relying on my miniature, electronic devices to keep in contact with friends.

In our technology savvy world, we are used to the fast-paced, instant messaging way of life. We forget to slow down and excuse ourselves from the quick-efficiency and appreciate what generation X may call the “old way of life.”

It really wasn’t that long ago, when people actually paid their bills through the mail and called their friends from a landline phone. Although it was quite awkward when you had to call your friend’s household, praying and sweating that they would pick up so you didn’t have to speak to their parents or their annoying sibling. The development of cell phones have ultimately solved that problem of ineptness (and nervous anticipation along with quickly thought of excuses if your friend did not answer).

Also, try considering the reactions of your professors and fellow peers if you submitted a five-page, research paper on economical bailouts, handwritten in cursive with a blue, ballpoint pen. That stapled document in and of itself would be a culture shock.

Although, we have become so dependent upon small gadgets and inventions, we can use them to our advantage. For instance, perhaps it’s my best friend’s birthday and I finally realize it at 11:35 at night. Theoretically, I can log onto Facebook and/or MySpace and wish her happy birthday before the clock strikes twelve. Facebook may even be the reason I remembered her birthday in the first place! To be more personal, I could dial her number and wish her a happy birthday verbally. As for sending that birthday card out on time, good luck. Perhaps that’s why Hallmark actually prints belated birthday cards. Regardless, it takes planning and a thorough thought process to remember someone’s birthday, buy the gift, and allow enough shipping time for the package to arrive before their actual birthday.

In some logical and quirky ways, technology is a great advancement in our society. It enables us to accomplish more daily tasks in the typical 24 hours than ever before. It even allows us to keep in contact with old classmates and friends who have taken other paths in life. The positives and negatives of technological advancement are endless, but remember every now and then to just sit back and think on how these helpful innovations have came to be and how we ever survived without them.