Comment on The Belmont Club,"Letters by dark"

RWE,
(who noted that NASA ignored email at work)
You are on to something. While efficiency is an overriding concern in business, except where government is concerned, in social relations the appreciation of the medium as well as the message may be more pronounced. However in the corporate world an executive may deliberately relegate electronic communications to the staff and prefer proper documentation. Tradition and inefficiency indicate formality which represents power. That is why the boss sits at a big desk with nothing on it but a button to call in the secretary.

In private life getting someone's attention is the content so while there is a role for texting and tweets there could also be a return to old fashioned pen and ink. I would expect that as times get harder there will be a tendency to discriminate in favor of luxury goods at retail and a renewed effort to display a consciously Retro-old fashioned lifestyle among the upper middle class. Printed calling cards may come back along with hand written notes. Young women may start again to be picked up for a date, as opposed to going out to meet an acquaintance for a hook up.