Wouldn't it be handy? Regret popping off in an email? You hit the send button anyway and now there's no turning back. I understand there are geeks somewhere who are working on the technology to retrieve a sent email. Even an email that has been opened and firmly resides in someone else's inbox. Poof! Like you never sent it at all. Poof!! Not a trace left of your electronic faux pas. Poof!!! An opportunity to start over fresh provided the receiver didn't copy/paste the darned thing into another secure file that can't be accessed. A recipient with failing short-term memory would also be in your favor. The un-sent! I like this idea and let me be the first to admit there have been a few times I would love to snatch back what I have sent. Part of the problem with email is its instantaneous nature. Tap out a few lines or words and it's gone. When you know someone really well, email can be a very efficient, cheap and quick way to communicate. My problem with email is that it's just the words. It doesn't include the aspects of communication that make a face-to-face interface real and significant. No tone of voice, no eye contact, no body language. Rendering email ripe ground for misunderstanding. The unsend button. Kind of a nifty idea. For now, I guess I'll just plug along in my own endearing, misunderstood way. Racking up those character building experiences that emerge due to the lack of the unsend button.
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2 comments:
One thing I *try* to do is let a possibly hostile email sit for 24 hours before sending. It doesn't always happen, though.
At work, we do have an "Unsend" function that I've used (oops, sent the email without the attachment kind of thing). Of course, it only works when I send something to others on the same system. I love it and want that function in life and email!
I, for one, love the finality of email. You write something, your cursor hovers over 'send', you consider the repecrcusions, you have that one last chance not to send something. It doesn't matter whether you send it or you not. For one instant you have a decision that's going to change your future, no matter how significantly or insignificantly, completely under your control. The next moment it's out of your control.
It's like skydiving. You can't skydive half way. Skydiving takes one step. Once you're taken that step, you can't take it back. If, after you've taken that step, you decide you don't want to skydive, too bad. You're skydiving and there's nothing you can do to change that...
What a rush!
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