Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The purpose of the word old-fashioned is to label what is obsolete, which isn’t good. The only time we like hearing old-fashioned is before ice cream. The phone has become old-fashioned, unless you use any other function on the device except the phone itself. It is now more common to hear the phrase, “Text me on my phone” than “Call me on my phone.”

But let’s talk about what is really obsolete. Obsolete refers to something that is no longer efficient or useful. Why make a phone call when text or e-mail are faster? The belief is that talking on a phone is obsolete; except that it is not.

Take setting up a meeting. Nine times out of 10, what usually takes at least five e-mail exchanges can be accomplished in a single two-minute phone call; a more productive use of time. More importantly however, things happen during a conversation that are impossible with text or e-mail. Questions arise, last-minute ideas pop up that could affect the content of the meeting or change how the participants prepare for it. With conversation, not only is the process shorter, but the outcome is better. In this case, isn’t it e-mail that is obsolete?