Is it always good?

I finally got the letter from one of my good friends in Taiwan today; I had been waiting for it for about 2 weeks. It took so long!! I sometimes doubted that my letter was lost or perhaps the postman put it into a wrong mail box. Anyhow, I got it now, thanks the postman!!

When I read the letter, a very amazing feeling welled up to me, and it made my heart felt so warm. (I do not have this kind of feeling even though I frequently chat with this friend through the MSN.) Seeing my friend's handwriting which I cherished the memory of, I immediately recalled our vivid life in senior high school. I finally found that we are so important to and have never forgotten about each other. This is actually the real feeling that I am looking for. I am glad that I got it from my friend's letter.

Befor receiving this letter, I did not like to write a letter since the e-mail and the MSN were so convenient to me; I could send messages to and receive them from my friends quickly. Also, Rowland (1999) points out that "mail was nowhere else nearly so rapidly or efficient, but despite the fact that it was not uncommon for an international letter to take half a year to reach it distination." I think that is why less and less people prefer to write letters. Although it sometimes takes a long time, letter itself represents many things that the MSN system is hard to come by. For instance, letter represents the intimate relationships with others such as families, friends, or lovers. By reading letters, people can recall thier memories in the past, and feelings that are hid in people's hearts will come out, no matter positive or negative, just like me. Letters represents more reality.

I take it for granted that the MSN system indeed fixes the problem of waiting messages through space, but it has less ability representing the reality. Moreover, according to the lecture, Smith (January, 18, 2005) states that some people criticize that the technology may bring negative social outcomes such as someone may feels annoying to receive unwanted messgaes. I agree since we just use computers and type letters on the keyboards to chat with others; therefore, sometimes we are even not sure that the people we are talking to through MSN is acutally those people we know. When writing messages, people who use the MSN involve less emotion than those who write letters in the paper. If a peson receives a hand- writing letter, s/he will think more that s/he is being cared by others; s/he may be able to maintain a longer intimate relationship with others.

Reference

Smith, R. (January, 18, 2005). Week 2: Introduction to Information technology-The New Media. Presented at a CMNS 253 Lecture at Simon Fraser University

Rowland, W (1999). The Need to Communicate. Spirt of the Web. (pp.31-40). Toronto, ON: Key porter Books.