By Robbie Davis, Sutton Park School, Sutton, Co Dublin
E-mailing is getting more and more popular every day and fewer people are writing letters by hand. Very soon, no one will be posting letters at all, but instead just clicking the "Send" button on the computer.
This is because e-mailing is a lot easier than handwriting and a lot quicker too. Many e-mail servers are free, so you do not have to pay for stamps and you are sure that your "letter" will reach its destination within a few minutes, while with postage it can be a matter of days. One of the few problems of emailing is that the quality of your spelling in e-mails deteriorates the more you use it, which does not happen as much when you are handwriting a letter. Another major problem is that if you have not checked your account for even one or two days, you could find 20 to 30 emails, most of which you do not actually want. Also viruses can be "mass-mailed" to thousands of different e-mail addresses and you could be unleashing a very destructive virus onto your computer just by opening an innocent-looking e-mail.
If the traditional way of sending mail is to survive, theses areas will have to be improved, its speed, cost and convenience will have to improve.
By Aoibhin O'Malley, Holy Faith School, Belgrove Road, Clontarf, Co Dublin
I believe the reason why people enjoy soap operas so much is because of the thrill of excitement between episodes when we're wondering what's going to happen next, like will Kevin and Sally get back together?
But this excitement is being taken away by magazines like Now and Okay: regularly on their covers they feature the forthcoming story-line of some soap.
Although it satisfies our curiosity, I would imagine the television stations are losing out, because people are less likely to watch if they know what's going to happen next. Soaps such as Brookside and Coronation Street bring millions of households to a standstill as everyone is glued to the television - well, that's what happens in my house anyway.
This doesn't just happen with British soaps. What about Friends and Ally McBeal? These are broadcast in the US long before coming to Ireland, then the media get hold of the stories and the excitement of waiting for new episodes is gone.
The media has a powerful influence on our lives. But I want to see the Street in my living-room and not in the local newsagent.
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media scope is a weekly media studies page for use in schools.
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media scope is edited by Harry Browne.
