THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF BUSINESS
storage, marketing, time and attendance and way more. There are a lot of big guns trying to build this tool. In addition to Slack, Microsoft brings Teams, a part of the Office 365 Suite, and Facebook bellies up to the bar with Workplace. Each of these competitors brings something unique to their product: Slack has 1,500+ integrations with other apps most teams and businesses use, and a single sign on; Microsoft has the sheer mass of being in pretty much every business in the world already; and Facebook has the experience of creating a vast communication experience and being the largest connector of people on the globe with more than 2.5 billion users. All of these companies and a bunch of other niche competitors also benefit from the idea that people want to communicate differently. And the move to kick email off its pedestal is not a new one. In 2015, Inc Magazine pre-
| DIGITAL MAVEN
dicted email would be obsolete by 2020. Old habits are hard to break and some products transcend tech and defy improvement. The return of flip phones and the resilience of Windows XP and its 1.5 billion users are two examples. Transcending email is going to be a ripping-off-the-bandage process. Consumers may have already done that. My personal email is not full of messages from family and friends; they text me with photos, news, and updates. Most of my email goes directly to the tra sh in a morning, coffee-fueled purge of newsletters, offers, and solicitations. Of 42 personal emails this morning, three escaped the trash and were looked at. Sometimes businesses lead; but just as often they go where consumers are. Maybe email could be one step closer to obsolescence. Or in 2021, will we still be ringing the death knell for email?
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CARLTON MOTORCARS 7.5.2019 | upstatebusinessjournal.com
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