I have many communication methods open to me, depending on where I am, and I have preferred methods subject to similar restrictions. The thing to remember about it all, however, is that I don't much care how I get a message to a particular person or people. What matters to me is that the message goes out and is received. It matters whether it's private or public, directed or undirected, synchronous or asynchronous, and whether I want video, voice, images or text. If I want to tell Deb that we're out of milk, it doesn't matter to me whether the message goes via SMS, Facebook chat or email. All that matters to me is that the message is sent specifically to her and that she gets it. To a certain extent, I shouldn't have to worry about the medium, just the message.
The problem with communications as they stand is that each medium believes itself to be an important brand in your communication needs, but my communication needs are independent of any brands. I need to send messages, or talk to people. I don't need to know that this one likes SMS, this one is always on Facebook and this one still prefers email, or that this person will be on Skype at this time. At the top level, I'm not trying to use these tools for their own sake. I'm using them because they facillitate my ultimate goals. If they went away tomorrow in favour of something else, I wouldn't be heartbroken, as long as I can still reach everyone conveniently.
Mokalus of Borg
PS - Taking away certain channels, however, would make some people very hard to reach.
PPS - So in that sense, I would be heartbroken.
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