>beyond the respective formats they require the writer to use. That's the difference and its crucial. They've been teaching kids to write for over a century and it was all you needed to communicate non-verbally over distances. That changed about 25 years ago. Within a very short time frame (less than a generation), writing became antiquated. A piece of paper & pen wasn't enough anymore. Now you needed a personal computer, you needed to understand how to use it, you needed to pay an internet provider monthly and you needed to know how to type fluently...not just pecking at letters but actually using all your fingers to coherently express ones thoughts and ideas We're talking about people that never took a typing class in school because, unlike writing, it wasn't required. If they did, it was by choice, was probably in front of a typewriter and wasn't offered until high school. Knowing how to type fluently was for secretaries (women), a few white collar jobs and journalists. Working class and Blue collar men didn't need to know how to type. Not until later in their lives was it suddenly required that everyone know how to type using a computer. But sometimes you can't teach an old dog new tricks and the idea of sitting in front of a computer, logging into an email account and trying to convey themselves through a keyboard is just too much of a hassle for someone that didn't grow up using it daily. A verbal conversation is easier and more straight forward.