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No. No. No. No. No! That's just not right!
Sorry. I have to vent. I know it's going to make me look
like a bad guy, but it's bugging me.
Some things should not be digital.
I just read an article on USA Today Tech that proclaims
that Harvard (pronounce that Hah-vahd) is going to send
out acceptances to students via email.
No. No. No. No. No! That's just not right!
Yes. I know it's expedient. Yes. I know it's good for
getting quick return acceptances. Yes. I know it good for
students living in foreign countries, but it's not right.
Half the fun of applying to college is getting that letter, in
that crisp envelope, turning it over and over in your hand
attempting to figure out if you'd been accepted. I always
tried to figure it out by weight. The heavier the envelope,
the more forms there were to fill out, thus I got in. The
lighter envelopes contain only the words, "Sorry, don't
show up in the Fall."
It just loses something when sent via email. I would
think a university as steeped in tradition as Harvard
would recognize that. It's not just them either. The same
article proclaims Tufts, Rutgers, the University of Dayton
and Northwestern, are also starting to send out email
notifications. You most likely get a letter as well as the
email, but the email arrives surely first. That's not right.
What exactly does the subject line read?
If it's something like, "Someone from Harvard wants to
speak with you," it'll get killed off as dirty-site Spam.
And another thing, digital family photos aren't being sent
to me via the mail any more. I am getting them via email.
I used to get a nice Olan Mills snapshot in the mail, pull it
out of the envelope, comment about the people and then
put it up on the fridge with one of my many Elvis
magnets.
Now I get them sent to me over the Web. I don't have a
photo printer. Even if I did, I wouldn't print it because
the shot has been compressed and it won't look very nice.
If I do break down and print it on my Deskjet, I get a
bunch of dots that, if you squint real hard, kind of look
like my cousin Tom. He's a blond. He also likes to ski
and snowmobile a lot. Shots with a lot of white in them
don't print nicely.
Finally, and I'm going to catch all kind of heck for this,
but what must be said, must be said.
Virtual greeting cards are not equals to real greeting
cards.
Look, here's the thing. There are some holidays where
virtual greeting cards are more than appropriate. They
include Groundhog Day, Halloween, possibly
Thanksgiving, a friend's birthdays, and most low-level
Hallmark-created Holidays. However, these virtual cards
are simply not equals to taking the time to go to the store,
read the texts, pick out a winner, fill out the envelope,
and drop it in the mail.
I'm sorry, but sending your mother a virtual card on
Mother's Day should mean no stuffing at Thanksgiving
dinner. I had a student proclaim that he was too busy to
buy his Mom a card and that he would find time to send
something from Bluemountain.com. How's that strike
you mothers out there?
There is an art to picking a card and taking the time to
write something, don't just sign it, and send it off.
"But Joe," you might say, "Isn't it the thought that
counts?"
Sure - next time your wife is having a birthday, send her
a virtual card with the message, "I'm thinking of you."
See what her reaction might be.
Virtual is OK. It's easy. It's free, but there are just some
things that shouldn't be handled in an OK, easy, and free
manner. Cards are one of them.
If you want to send a virtual card in tandem with a real
card, go for it. Just don't rely on the OK, free, and easy
to be the end all.
It's just like giving socks, underwear, or music from the
late 1970s for Christmas.
No. No. No. No. No! That's just not right!
That's that. Thanks for reading the rant.
And Remember: It's generally agreed that the first
Christmas card was created in 1843 by J.C. Horsley for
Sir Henry Cole. Only 1000 copies were made of that first
card. By 1880, the tradition had taken hold and the U.S.
Post Office was asking people to please mail early for
successful delivery before December 25th.
Joe Burns, Ph.D.
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