Adrienne LaFrance provides a concise history of email and then explains why one of the world’s most reviled technologies keeps winning. Email has always been a great medium. It’s the content of most emails that’s problematic.

+ One reason that email wins is because every time a technology platform promises to replace it, that platform starts becoming even more irritating than email. I touched on this in my list of the only five notifications you really need: Consider Yourself on Notification.