Rapid Fire Response

The business of communication, I suspect, has not been touched by the global economic slow down taking place.

Look around. New cellphones are still being launched, cable on demand is hot, internet is glowing with advertisers, people are glued to chatting on line - buying hardware and software - to enhance connectivity, to store data and files, to expand and enlarge one's reach of both business and social opportunities.

The merits and demerits of today's method and blitz of communication are still debatable, except for the power of the Internet to create a wizard - world connected and enhanced by rapid exchange and availability of information, on all subject ranges.

People sign up with social networking sites, email endlessly ( I do, too), text excessively, video chat, talk on the phone, blueberries and iphones their ways to business meetings, social functions, and even, in the midst of a forbidden liaison.

People bank on line, purchase on-line, send gifts on line, make love on line. It's all rapid fire response. Meanwhile, hackers, snoopers, wackos are laughing all the way to the bank.

Rapid fire response. Looks fine. But there are some basic elements that the old fashion, direct communication cannot give.

For instance, deals sealed and business agenda followed-through by company business executives while video conferencing across the globe, lack the warmth of a handshake, and maybe, the missed - emotional IQ- of those on-line deals, could have meant a more humane approach to "third world-first-country company mergers, " or bail-outs.

Or would-be lovers instant messaging each other, video chatting, posting countless photos, or even inventing new personas through Avatar, and zigzagging through other creative ploys to connect, cannot replace the joy of a long, sweet kiss, and the sanity of a direct, simple yes or no reply.

This is today's game. Take it or leave it. Sacrifice one's sanity . Or lose the deal, all together.