Specifications

editorial
a thing or two about a thing or two
7
MAXIMUMPCJUL 2011
maximumpc.com
MAXIMUMPC
TECH GROUP
Vice President: Kate Byrne, 650-238-2049
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EDITORIAL
Editor in Chief: George Jones
Deputy Editor: Katherine Stevenson
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ART
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MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH EMAIL was
in my freshman year of college in
1988. I attended Dartmouth, and we
had a system named BlitzMail. Every
student was granted an email ad-
dress and access to the system. Like
most students, I didn’t use it at all.
It’s hard for even me to believe, but
back then I was in the habit of writing
letters and postcards.
I vividly recall the tipping point,
though. In 1989 in the middle of my
sophomore year, I was eating lunch
with a few freshmen who were talk-
ing about how great email was for
chatting up women. I remember be-
ing shocked at the notion that these
guys didn’t have the courage to pick
up the phone. Little did I know.
I’d be lying if I said that I took to
email the next day. I didn’t. It took
three more years and my first job
in PC Week’s lab in 1992 to actually
start using it. Like a lot of corporate
workplaces, email was commonly
used for interoffice communications.
But the volume was manageable; I
remember going two or three hours
without new email. That sounds ab-
solutely crazy now, but this was the
era before SPAM even existed.
As more friends started working
and came online, the postcard- and
letter-writing days ended forever.
(That lab job was also awesome be-
cause after four years of using a Mac
in college, I was able to get back to
PC gaming—after hours, of course.)
I’ll be honest; I still love checking
my inbox and discovering email—
from friends, family, writers, read-
ers, PR people, whomever—even if
it has become a bit overwhelming.
Between my work account and my
personal accounts, I’ve never had
trouble keeping up. Until now. This is
partially what inspired this month’s
cover story. Over the last 18 months,
I’ve begun to notice that my ability
to quickly parse, read, and respond
to email just isn’t fast enough any-
more. I need to develop new systems
and shortcuts. I need to change my
ways.
I’m curious—are you finding your-
self in the same boat as I am? If so,
what have you done to better man-
age your email life? Let me know at
[e-mail].
Contest Winners
Finally, the winners of last month’s
challenge to identify the fake Google
app icon. For those scoring at home,
the correct answer was Google Stor-
age. Here are the winners: Keith
Lucas (who was the first correct
response), Andy Man, Chris Brush,
Bruce R., Bill Hortman, Louis Celli,
Kyle Irwin, Sean McCormick, Wil
Last, and Laura Carlson. Congrats,
everyone! We’ll have a new contest
next month.
MY PRIVATE
EMAIL HISTORY
↘ submit your questions to: [e-mail]
George
Jones