{"id":4027,"date":"1995-11-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1995-11-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-76-no-6-november-december-1995-communicating-in-the-nineties\/"},"modified":"2022-11-27T02:05:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T02:05:25","slug":"vol-76-no-6-november-december-1995-communicating-in-the-nineties","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-76-no-6-november-december-1995-communicating-in-the-nineties\/","title":{"rendered":"Vol. 76 No. 6 &#8211; November\/December 1995 &#8211; Communicating in the Nineties"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">The discussion of the computer communications                     revolution to date has tended to dwell more on the methods                     than the content. The technology makes transmission easy,                     but it does not relieve people of the challenge of expressing                     themselves comprehensibly. Let&#8217;s not let the machinery get                     in the way of communicating as well as we can&#8230;<\/p>\n<p> At least some readers will be relieved to know that this                     is not yet another awe-stricken screed on the coming of the                     electronic superhighway. Enough electrical and human energy                     has already been expended describing the epochal possibilities                     of the Internet, the 500-channel universe, CD ROMS and all                     the rest. Enough paper has been run through printing presses                     to pack the ever-expanding computer sections of book and magazine                     shops with more than you will ever want to know about the                     paperless society. No, this is not about the mind-blowing                     things the new electronic communications technology might                     someday do for us &#8211; or to us. It is about how people are being                     affected by it in the great here and now.<\/p>\n<p>To put an overblown subject in perspective, it should be                     pointed out that a transformation in communications has been                     under way in the developed countries for a number of years,                     but it has unfolded almost imperceptibly. The introduction                     of the photocopier wrought a permanent change in our ways                     of doing things by making multiple copies of all sorts of                     documents available with little effort and at a low cost.                     Economical long-distance and overseas telephone calling has                     popularized a practice that once was rare and expensive. Electronic                     beepers, answering machines, cellular phones and faxes have                     changed the way we communicate more than all the modems and                     graphical interfaces yet produced.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, though, most people in the western world                     are feeling the impact of the more glamorous developments                     at least indirectly. By giving rise to the global economy,                     the new world order of communications has affected the way                     their savings are invested, the products they buy, and &#8211; by                     speeding up the worldwide distribution process &#8211; the way their                     jobs are done.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, only major corporations could afford the systems                     required to make the most of the computer&#8217;s communications                     capabilities. Now, the relatively low cost of service and                     equipment has opened up new avenues of opportunity for a multitude                     of small companies and one-person enterprises.<\/p>\n<p>As far as communications is concerned, all anybody in a                     developed country needs to do business today is a telephone,                     a fax machine, a computer, a modem, and the requisite software.                     With these at hand, consultants, small-scale vendors and the                     like can make a living while hardly ever leaving their homes.<\/p>\n<p>Companies of all sizes have taken advantage of the reverse                     economies of scale to release employees to work at home or                     in satellite offices. This suits many people better than having                     to spend a lot of time travelling to and from a conventional                     office. As for the offices themselves, much of the communication                     done within them is now conducted by electronic mail.<\/p>\n<p>People who work on-line in this way may &#8220;access&#8221; the facts                     and figures they want by simply calling them up on their computer                     screens and, if they so choose, down-loading them on their                     hard disks. Data bases and the Internet offer a profusion                     of information &#8211; all, as is so often said, &#8220;at your fingertips.&#8221;                     The process need not take place in a work setting, however.                     Millions now &#8220;surf the net&#8221; for educational reasons or just                     for the fun of it.<\/p>\n<p>In a society so enthralled by cybernetics, it takes the                     boldness of a boy willing to point out that the emperor has                     no clothes to question how much of this so-called information                     is worth having. The Library Association Journal of Great                     Britain did the unusual recently by commenting that &#8220;the <em>quality<\/em>                     [our italics] of electronic information sources has become                     a major issue during the past few years, as both information                     professionals and end-users are becoming increasingly reliant                     on information delivered in electronic formats.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>&#8220;The most chaotic collection of information in history&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>The librarians are concerned that the rigour which once governed                     the publication of facts in journals and books tends to be                     lacking when information moves from one computer to another.                     True, it all depends on what kind of information you are talking                     about; computers are peculiarly suited to generating and transmitting                     accurate financial data. And no one doubts the veracity of                     an encyclopedia entry on a data base.<\/p>\n<p>Still, much of the off-the-cuff information coming out of                     cyberspace deserves to be treated with caution. As anyone                     who has chuckled at the meaningless &#8220;stats&#8221; on sports telecasts                     knows, the computer is perfectly adapted to churn out statistics                     of all configurations, whether or not they have any significance.                     Needless to say, statistics can be rigged every whichway to                     make a particular case.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Burnam wrote in <em>The Dictionary of Misinformation<\/em>                     (1973) that the popular reverence for statistics has had &#8220;the                     particularly unfortunate result of making the job of the plain,                     outright liar that much easier&#8230;. And a lie cast in the form                     of a table or a graph or a row of figures is the most effective                     of all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When a lie appears on a computer screen or printout, it                     is just that much more persuasive. Computer-generated material                     emerges in a neat, crisp form that lends it a mystical stamp                     of authority. Propagandists have shown themselves to be well                     aware of this psychological effect: the Internet has become                     a leading medium for political lobbyists in various countries                     promoting their viewpoints under the guise of objective information.                     Hucksters &#8211; to say nothing of outright charlatans &#8211; have been                     similarly quick to capitalize on the Internet&#8217;s special properties.                     Meanwhile, gurus in Internet chat groups palm off opinions                     and rumours as unassailable fact.<\/p>\n<p>For anyone who wishes to retain control over his or her                     own life, &#8221; facts&#8221; should always be approached warily. Who                     among us has not, at one time or another, read or heard bits                     of information that do not agree with our own experience or                     common sense? Why should we care whether we are being told                     the truth or not? Because if we assume that something which                     is false is true, we are in danger of acting to our own detriment                     on false assumptions. The simplest example of this is being                     duped into paying hard-earned money for a product that does                     not perform as advertised.<\/p>\n<p>Short of being absolutely false, much of the information                     relayed on computer systems is inchoate, incomplete, trivial,                     or out of context. As computer journalist Howard Rheingold                     has remarked, the Internet incorporates &#8220;the most chaotic                     collection of information in history.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The sheer quantity of the material &#8220;on line&#8221; presents its                     own problem. People working in big companies especially complain                     that they are snowed under by useless, irrelevant and trivial                     &#8220;data for data&#8217;s sake.&#8221; E-mail adds further to needless piles                     of paper by encouraging repetition. Some managers have the                     annoying habit of copying everyone possible on missives that                     are only really relevant to one or two people.<\/p>\n<p>Also, with the best intentions in the world, computerized                     information can be flawed by entry errors. The tremendous                     volume of the output makes them doubly hard to spot, since                     they tend to be buried in masses of figures or verbiage. An                     error which appears in a graph or chart may never be discovered                     because it looks so good&#8230; so <em>right<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In this and other ways, computerized communications quite                     literally present a case of the medium being the message.                     When Marshall McLuhan coined his famous phrase to that effect,                     he explained that it was so because &#8220;it is the medium that                     shapes and controls the search and form of human associations                     and actions.&#8221; McLuhan never lived to see the personal computer                     used for communications, but we can now appreciate just how                     astute he was.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to human associations, the chief impact of                     using the computer as a communications medium has been to                     build walls of impersonality. When, for instance, E-mail messages                     are deposited in a person&#8217;s file for a later response, the                     interlocutors do not share a true interaction as they would                     in a normal conversation. They are separated both by distance                     and time. The same might be said of what is now known disparagingly                     as &#8220;snail mail,&#8221; but the fact that outside parties might tune                     in to what is being said over computers makes a difference.                     Office workers report embarrassing cases of unflattering comments                     about colleagues, business associates and even customers being                     sent to those parties in error. Gone is the privacy and security                     of the written word carried in a sealed envelope.<\/p>\n<p>Paradoxically enough, in another sense of the term, people                     can become all too &#8220;personal&#8221; when they have the buffer of                     cyberspace between them. This usually, but not always, happens                     when they are engaged in what the experts call &#8220;synchronous                     interactive discourse &#8221; and ordinary net-surfers and E-mailers                     call &#8220;chat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Researchers studying news groups have noted a high incidence                     of &#8221; flaming.&#8221; A research paper on the subject defines flaming                     as &#8220;the practice of expressing oneself more strongly than                     one would in other communications settings.&#8221; Too true: if                     you said such things over the telephone, the other person                     might never speak to you again; if you said it face to face,                     you might fetch a punch in the nose.<\/p>\n<h3>Enlarging the gap between living, breathing                   human beings<\/h3>\n<p>The researchers speculate that flaming reflects a regime                     of &#8221; uninhibited behaviour&#8221; which may be partly due to &#8220;the                     paucity of reminders of the presence of other people and of                     social norms.&#8221; Here we arrive back at the essential impersonality                     of the medium, which is reinforced by the fact that many news                     group members on the Internet go by code names. Even in inter-company                     E-mail where people might be acquainted with each other to                     some degree, they are not known by their names, but their                     initials. Thus the gap between living, breathing human beings                     is further enlarged.<\/p>\n<p>The convenience of these sight-unseen relationships has                     turned some managers into electronic hermits. They like the                     sensation of communicating without moving from their chairs,                     causing their subordinates to complain that they hardly ever                     get to talk to their superiors in the flesh. It seems so much                     easier to sit back and let your fingers do the talking. The                     trouble is that fingers cannot talk.<\/p>\n<p>Talking and writing are two different things. People were                     well aware of this in the far-off days when most of their                     long-distance communication was by letters. Historical researchers                     delving into correspondence from the 19th century may find                     themselves shaking their heads in admiration at the skill                   with which educated people in those days wielded their pens.<\/p>\n<h3>Communicating without body language, smiles or frowns<\/h3>\n<p>Some were better at it than others, of course, but the best                     among them obviously took great pains over their choice of                     words, seeing to it that the messages they wished to convey                     were clear to their readers. One way of re-establishing such                     standards in the computer age is to print out messages and                     read them over with a view to editing them before ever pressing                     one&#8217;s send key.<\/p>\n<p>To decrease the odds of being misunderstood, those sending                     messages should keep a sharp eye out for ambiguities, which                     are more likely to occur in writing than in talking. When                     thoughts are committed to a computer screen, the position                     of the words can make all the difference between things being                     done right and done wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Consider how the positioning of a single word can change                     the message being conveyed: &#8220;ONLY these items will be acquired                     by the purchasing department&#8221;; &#8220;these items ONLY will be acquired                     by the purchasing department&#8221;; &#8220;these items will be acquired                     ONLY by the purchasing department.&#8221; Though it is primarily                     the responsibility of the sender to put the right words in                     the right places, the receiver should never be shy about asking:                     &#8220;What do you mean by that? &#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When people talk to each other face to face or over the                     phone, they will reiterate key points to elaborate on and                     clarify their meaning. They are less likely to do so when                     they are hitting computer keys. In verbal conversations, they                     make fluid adjustments in wording to allow for each other&#8217;s                     feelings. On the telephone, people change their tone of voice                     according to whether they greet a message favourably or unfavourably.                     In face-to-face encounters, they can see each other&#8217;s smiles                     and frowns and body language. Without tonal or facial expressions                     to reinforce them, polite requests can emerge as peremptory                     orders, and attempts at disarming humour as sarcastic gibes.<\/p>\n<p>The dazzling speed with which electronic messages are transmitted                     can also detract from their meaning. Some E-mailers use their                     PCs as verbal machine guns, firing off verbiage in rapid bursts.                     Machine guns have a tendency to spray indiscriminately unless                     the operator has a firm grip and a steady aim. So it is with                     E-mail: there is a tendency to think that, if enough words                     are fired off in the general direction of the target, some                     are bound to hit their mark.<\/p>\n<h3>Don&#8217;t hurry: speed can be a false economy<\/h3>\n<p>The finished appearance of the text leads to the dangerous                     assumption that, because it <em>looks<\/em> right, it must be                     right. It never enters some people&#8217;s minds that they should                     rewrite messages, starting over again from scratch, if they                     are not satisfied that they have conveyed their full and true                     meaning. Some do not even edit or read their copy over to                     correct their spelling, punctuation, and syntax. If they bother                     going over it at all, they rely on their PC spell checks to                     do their proof-reading for them. A spell check does not guarantee                     accuracy. As long as a word is in the dictionary, it will                     pass it. As has been sharply pointed out, a spell check does                     not know the difference between &#8220;does not&#8221; and &#8221; doe snot.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The promptness of computerized communication raises a subconscious                     expectation of prompt reaction. While compressing into nanoseconds                     the time taken to pass messages back and forth, electronic                     systems have also compressed the time taken for research,                     consultation and deliberative thought. When managers received                     their inter-office correspondence on paper every morning,                     they could ponder questions and find out more about the details                     of the subject. Now they are under pressure to respond to                     a message the minute it pops up on their screens.<\/p>\n<p>Speed can be a false economy if sufficient time is not taken                     to prepare a message properly. If managers hastily fire off                     misguided or incomplete responses, tasks that would only have                     to be done once must be done twice or more once the error                     is revealed. It is difficult enough to elicit the right action                     at the best of times without trying to do it in a hurry. Long                     before E-mail, a study by the University of Minnesota showed                     that at least 20 per cent of messages from top management                     were misinterpreted by people in the lower levels of companies.                     The motto of business communications &#8211; indeed, any communications                     &#8211; might be taken from the great German General Von Moltke.                     &#8220;Remember, gentlemen,&#8221; he told his officers at a pre-battle                     briefing, &#8220;any order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Do all these reservations about electronic communication                     mean that we should go back to the old ways of doing things?                     No, of course not. We should use electronic systems to their                     fullest as long as we have made sure that the messages we                     send and receive on them are unmistakably clear. Economics                     dictate that they are here to stay, at least until such time                     as a new electronic marvel such as a voice- activated computer                     clears away the difficulty of expressing oneself in writing.                     They make a marvellous medium for communicating more quickly,                     thoroughly, and universally than ever before.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, computerized communication is only one                     mode in a constellation that includes the telephone, personal                     meetings, faxes and conventional mail. Thought should be given                     to which mode is most appropriate to the message at hand.                     When seeking information, data bases and the Internet are                     fine up to a point, but, time permitting, more and better-expressed                     information is likely to be found in journals and books.<\/p>\n<p>For all its charisma, a computer is nothing more than a                     machine, and like all machines it needs to be handled with                     care, lest it injure its operator. We should not allow ourselves                     to be carried away by its seemingly magical abilities. Our                     brains simply do not function as quickly as the machines we                     use to transmit our thinking. What Marshall McLuhan wrote                     before the advent of PCs is even more valid now that computers                     have come to dominate communications: &#8220;I do not see that the                     physical existence of man is compatible with the speed of                     light.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3> Notice to Readers<\/h3>\n<p>Starting with our first issue in 1996, Royal Bank Letter                     will be published four times a year to reflect preferences                     among our readers. In a wide-ranging study of subscribers                     this summer, many said they would prefer receiving the Letter                     four times a year instead of six because of the general overflow                     of information in their lives. The format and content remain                     the same. The Letter may also be accessed via the Internet                     on the Royal Bank&#8217;s Home Page, again to reflect changing habits.                     The first issue will be released December 29. Should you not                     receive your copy by the end of January, please let us know.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[82],"class_list":["post-4027","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-82"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vol. 76 No. 6 - November\/December 1995 - Communicating in the Nineties - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-76-no-6-november-december-1995-communicating-in-the-nineties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vol. 76 No. 6 - November\/December 1995 - Communicating in the Nineties - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The discussion of the computer communications revolution to date has tended to dwell more on the methods than the content. 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