Could it be that the novelty is wearing off? Or perhaps with the amount of spam that is sent, people are getting fed up wading through it all. I think, though, that what's happening is that e-mail is becoming part of the communications landscape. I keep in touch with many people via e-mail, and it is a great boon; but it's no replacement for face-to-face human contact. There will always be a place for an instantaneous, cheap, written form of communication that reaches around the world; but like all technological developments, it isn't appropriate in all circumstances.