(no subject)

[cellio]

Telephones are just about the worst way to have a conversation. In writing (ok, email), I can carefully consider my words and get a reply that (I hope) is also carefully considered. Face to face, I can monitor the other person's reactions to what I'm saying and be clued in fairly quickly if I'm giving an impression other than the one I meant. Phones are real-time and non-visual -- the worst of both worlds.

Phones are for making queries, conveying information, syncing with other people on short notice, etc. They are not for real conversations. I wish more people believed that.

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

I so agree. I hate finding myself in important, content/emotional conversations over the phone.
Though there are times in email that words can be misunderstood, while the same thing over the phone wouldn't be, due to tone.... (Love those emoticons...)n

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Wow.
May I say that I believe you absolutely correct?
I will refrain from calling you to do so. :)

[mrpeck.livejournal.com]

For me, the real time component of the telephone can be a problem sometimes. E-mail doesn't have that problem and even things like AIM have it to a lesser extent. There is also and extra level of separation (or at least it feels that way) between you and the person you are trying to communicate with when using e-mail or AIM. Maybe that level is the extra delay time, I'm not sure. However, I find that I have a much better idea of what the other person is thinking over the phone due to tone. With e-mail and AIM, I find myself projecting my thoughts onto the other person's responses all too often and that interferes with effective communication. I don't do that with phone conversations (well, I don't do it as long as I am actually conscious for the phone conversation). That said, I end up using typing methods of communication more frequently because they are 'easier,' probably due to the extra level of separation.

[eub.livejournal.com]

I am with you all the way. You'd expect that tacit communication would get through better over the phone than through email, but for me it does not.