Without email, how would people tell me where their stuff is on Sharepoint? - Nine DataAngel Ferdinand

There's a pie chart in all this somewhere. Some uses of email today continue to make sense. Others should migrate to more open apps. And email isn't dead, if for no other reason as it serves as the central attention location for notifications of things happening elsewhere (like SharePoint). - Hutch Carpenter

I have to say I used email more, and more effectively, at Google than anywhere else. It was just a series of firehoses and the challenge was to route the right ones to the right places, but when you did you got an overview of what's going on in the company more honest, complete, and timely than any 'groupware' product could possibly provide. - Kevin Fox

That seems a bit hypebolic to me. - Joey Gibson

Kevin - Interesting take. Was there an aspect of email allowing un-ashamed, unabashed opinions to flow that might not be shared in groupware? - Hutch Carpenter

when is pencil/pen and paper going to be declared dead? - acedanger

@acedanger - Great question. Maybe it already has and we missed it? - nsnadell

@elroy - I guess that's possible...I seem to have tons of pencils, pens AND paper around me - acedanger

There is a forthcoming comprehensive blog post fleshing this point out. I will post a link to it here in the comments. But from a high level: 1) Limited innovation in email clients in years, 2) Email overload / Cultural misuse / Organizational SPAM, 3) Email clients do not factor in importance - all emails are the same weight, 4) Search is weak, 5) Email is a damaging massive knowledge silo in organizations, 6) Hard to leverage network effects, 7) Gen Y's main communication patterns do not include email - Tim Young

Dead is dead. Whereas email, RSS, network TV, ballpoint pens, hugs and real handshakes are still alive. "One tools fits all" is dead. Hype is dying too. Hype causes bubbles. Bubbles burst. - Gil Yehuda

Dead is not gone. There is a big difference. - Tim Young