We had recently done a whitepaper on the subject (http://hyperoffice.com/business-email-overload/) which was also covered by ZDNet (http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=18692)

Although I want to agree with you and that no one enjoys getting spam (except Eric up there), I have to disagree – either my Gmail spam filter works very well or it doesn’t work well for others.

In any case, here are my thoughts on this subject.

While I must agree with you on many points, I will have to respectfully disagree. My kids refuse to use their email, opting for MySpace. I prefer Facebook, or Twitter. Ultimately though I do realize that email is not going away for several reasons…

1. My employer, the U.S. Air Force requires us to use “their” email. They block access to all webmail, social, and photo sharing sites. They even block access to any instant messaging sites. They have recently added access to the Windows Messenger only allowing Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) connections internally.
I do find it hard to believe that a n organization as security concious as my employer would ever allow communication to go through third party applications that cannot be monitored effectively.

2. As Eric Gonzolez says, most social networking sites require an email address as your login.

3. My kids not only refuse email, they also refuse to use instant messaging tools. At some point they are going to have to send files to one another. This is going to either require email or instant messaging. The point being, at some point they will grow out of the newest fad when they get beyond their current circle.

As one that loves to jump to the newest toy myself, I have to admit that in the not too distant future, there will be a newer toy to go to but email will be around for a long time.

If all your friends and business contacts are active on IM, you probably need to broaden your social and business life a bit.

E-mail is and always has been TERRIBLE for attachments.
And you don’t need it for Zooomr, Zooomr allows the use of OpenID (and thank goodness for that).

There are so many alternatives to confirmation than e-mail alone. Some of these may be better or worse in one’s own opinion (just like e-mail is):
SMS
Jabber
AIM/MSN/Y!/ICQ
Actual Audio Phone Call providing a Pin or simple audible confirmation.

There’s probably a billion more, I’m just forgetting :/.

I help out Zooomr users every single day. I answer more support emails personally than probably any CEO or any other company… well except maybe Craig Newmark over at craigslist. Support emails are meaningful and it’s a shame that they have to be mixed in with so much other unimportant stuff. Still, I find I also deal with just as many support issues from within Zooomr itself as opposed to email.