I have a friend who is a lawyer with a top UK firm. She has never learned to type, she has always had a secretary and a dictating machine. I suspect she hasn't actually "written" anything for years.

I am hugely amused by her e-mails which are truly - awful. they are full of typos, careless spelling, dubious grammar and random abbreviations. She would never send out a business letter looking like that.

I think that is where a lot of the tolerance is coming from on the internet. A lot of very clever people are out there trying to communicate but they can't actually ... type. Their tolerance level has a trickle down effect and us lesser mortals get away with more in their slipstream.

I've always thought of a (non-business) e-mail as "written down talking" not a letter. I suppose that is why the rate of change is increasing. We throw together a quick e-mail, rather than writing a considered letter. Aplogies for those of you who manage to post e-mails in perfect prose!