And this is why email and forums (such as this HN) are so valuable.<p>I gave a class yesterday to 30 students on the differences between IM
and email. Despite all the technicalities of store-forward versus
connection oriented, key exchanges, PGP and SMIME, forward secrecy and
so on... they were much more of the opinion that it's the expectation
of pace that really matters.<p>Who sets the pace and why?<p>Slowing down over-eager bosses by saying "I'm thinking about what you
asked/said and have yet to formulate a reply" is a way to bring them
gently back to a slower frame.<p>Many of us send a message and get anxious 10 minutes later that we
haven't been heard/validated.<p>Today I felt this very comforting <i>space</i> of async. I am corresponding
with a hacker named Ploum (Offpunk and AV-98-offline), who is - well -
offline for a month to get some work done. With memories of
communicating to devs on an Antarctic research ship that made
satellite connections every three of four days, I decided I don't need
to respond to the last message until maybe next week, and we'll both
have time to thik about what we're saying more.