I think most people would agree that e-mail was more popular towards the beginning of the century than it is now, but that doesn't mean people don't use it anymore. I personally use the internet for not too many purposes other than as an educational resource for the University, or to confirm shopping orders of account creations. I'm sure the case is different for individuals with a broader scale of responsibilities, such as small business owners or corporate workers who need e-mail for their job. I do believe that in these circumstances, e-mail does eat up a significant amount of time, but the efficiency of it is nothing to sneeze it. It can help accomplish tasks simultaneously in short amounts of time that would otherwise be a hassle to do either in person or formal lettering. As far as e-mailing goes in terms of a social activity, I believe that this is a fading form of communication. In today's society, more relevant forms of networking tend to be used outside of the workplace, such as Facebook and text messaging. This eliminates part of the "time-wasting" aspect of email that was brought up in Schwartz's article.
If I were suddenly not able to access my email for an extended period of time, the main aspect of my life that would be affected would be my schoolwork and studies. My University of Michigan webmail is one of my more important tools regarding my academics, and not being able to check it would surely result in a hindered capacity to do well in school. Occasionally I will recieve an email from either my mother or father, just checking in on how we are doing or, even more rarely, suggesting dinner plans or something along those lines. Those would go unanswered so I'm sure my parents would just wind up calling me instead. I also suppose that I wouldn't be updated on a bunch of deals from the MGoBlue shop for women's hoodies being up to 70% off, and also I will never know that people in my hall should stop leaving the doors to my bathroom cracked open. In summary, I really only use email for schoolwork, but if something important does pop up, I won't want to miss it.
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I disagree with your statement that email has decreased in popularity. Email continues to thrive today, even with its new competitors (text messaging and Facebook). However, email has taken on a different form than in the past. Many people have emails forwarded to their phones now and thus use mini keyboards to respond, which can alter the length and content of responses. Additionally, I agree that different people have varying uses for email in their lives. Email is more of a timewaster for many people our age, receiving Facebook updates as emails, than it is for business owners communicating with customers.
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