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How to Instantly Connect with Anyone
One Monday, Carole e-mailed me a spoof on the beautiful poem Robert Browning sent to his beloved Elizabeth Barrett, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Carole wrote, “How do I despise thee, Danielle? Let me count the ways.” She followed it with an unexpurgated list of why she loathed our supervisor. Carole and I continued e-mailing on work matters that week. And, of course, the poem went back and forth at the bottom of our thread of messages. On Friday, Carole had to send Danielle a copy of the business project we had been working on. After reading her email (CC’d to Danielle), I glanced down our thread of messages and realized she had neglected to delete her “poem” frying Danielle—who was probably reading it at that moment. Carole was conspicuously absent that following Monday— and every day after that. If you listen carefully on a clear night in Silicon Valley, you will hear the chuckles of programmers blowing across the sand dunes. They have heard thousands of stories of love lost and jobs vanishing because of what users call “computer errors.”