I hesitated to blog about the 3G iPhone. After all, it dominated headlines and seems destined to linger above the fold for some time. But one new feature deserves some mention.
Push email
Everyone I knew who'd grown to love their pre-iPhone PDA cited push email (or lack thereof) as a reason to skip out on the iPhone. "The iPhone doesn't have push email, so I'll just wait until the ... ," they said as they stopped mid-sentence to pickup their Blackberry and check their email. Once again, I fell victim to a pusher.
Odds are, you've met a pusher recently. They're most easily identified by the short, incomplete sentences they deliver as they succumb to the compelling need to check their email (just in case their house is on fire and, for some reason, the fire department chose email notification ... only to find out it was another sale at Best Buy). You may also notice their consistent use of "So, where was I?" in conversation. Perhaps most revealing, any question or request from you might be met with, "Can you send me that in an email?"
Medical experts have yet to identify this as a degenerative defect, so we can only hope that rehabilitation can occur. In the meantime, these poor pushers slowly dull their ability to effectively engage in that all-too-valuable business skill — personal communication.
When did personal conversations become less important than email?
I remember the status-symbol phase of Blackberrys, the first to dominate the phone-email combination market. Phones buzzed and execs eagerly held their new toy aloft during meetings, conversations, even at church.
The phones intrigued us. The technology amazed us. The need to have one tempted us like chocolate-covered crack. This euphoric wonder sparked conversations about the value of such a device, all the while we stood blinded to one thing — users were putting email above personal conversation.
Today, the shiny newness of email-on-your-phone technology has worn to a thin and dull "so what?" The execs still have their phonemail devices. So does everyone else in the meeting. As the meeting begins, attendees pull out their devices and thumb away frantically. The presenter is asked to repeat statements so many times they have no choice but to send the discussion ... via email.
The nation is gripped by visions of husbands and wives sitting in bed with PDA's emailing, "So, how was your day?" A realization dawns. If everyone checks their email when meeting, why meet?
Back in the work meetings, words like "rudeness" and "appropriate use" get thrown about. Thus, we enter our current era — under-the-table-email, or sneakmail.
iPhones weren't pushers.
When iPhone entered the market, push email — the "feature" whereby your phone buzzes, rings, chirps or plays "Whoomp There It Is" at the receipt of any email message — remained noticeably absent. "You mean I actually have to check my email?" the pushers belted like teenagers who'd just been asked to take out the garbage.
I'm not sure why the original iPhone didn't have push email. The story in my head is that Apple executives figured out a secretly hidden aspect of human behavior: Push email can be a distraction. If we receive 12 emails a day, being distracted by them isn't such a big deal. Get buzzed for 50, 75 or 100 emails daily and you've now turned your vibrating phone into a massage device (and who can do anything during a massage?).
How many interruptions do you want in a day?
As with all things both obscure and peculiar, a scientist has studied email interruptions with great detail. UK researcher Thomas Jackson found that email interruptions "cost" each of us approximately 64 seconds of consciousness.
You're sitting in a meeting. Your phone buzzes. You disengage from conversation to ponder whether or not it might be important enough to check. Distracted thoughts run rampant, "Could my house be on fire? No, I'm pretty sure the fire department would just call." Sometimes we check the mail, only to find out it was spam or bacn. Whether you check or not, you've tuned out just long enough to miss critical pieces of conversation. You've become a pusher.
Extrapolate Jackson's findings to your in-box. If you receive 30 emails daily and your phone is set to buzz with the arrival of each message, you've conceivably spent 32 minutes in the twilight zone. Receive 50 emails? 75? There's a lot of wasted time with each buzz.
For employers, this could mean your associates aren't getting as much work done, they're more likely to ask for repeated information, they'll stay late from work and more. For most people, this phenomena represents about 30 minutes ... approximately the amount of time spent "catching up" on email after work, at home or on weekends.
What great communicators know.
Interact with highly effective people and several observations can be made. They don't waste time. They're impeccable with their word. And, when it comes to communication, they do two things:
- Great communicators put the richest form of communication first. That means in-person communication gets primary attention, followed by phone, text and email.
- Great communicators manage interruptions. They intentionally remove the distractions and become present with us, making us feel like the message they are delivering or the answers they need from us are of primary importance.
Setting phones to check mail every half hour instantly creates the space we need to be present with people during meetings, focus on reports, even ask our spouse about their day. (This also gets us processing email in batches, something our brains do more efficiently.)
iPhone gets pushed
The latest version of the iPhone touts push email as a feature. Alas, those poor souls who suffer the "pusher" addiction have convinced Apple that supplying the drug is easier than implying the solution. But whether you check your mail manually or get the phone to check it for you, in the end it's always the timing that counts.
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