This post by Robert Scoble pretty much nails why email is here to stay.  Scoble is an interesting fella and I enjoy reading his posts although the drama gets a bit old. Anyway, he puts forth a conversation he had about how to share news and pictures of the arrival of a new baby (early congrats by the way). 

And now you know the trouble that these Web 2.0 sites will have in getting everyday people to try them out.

Most of the population (aka ‘everday people’) have no awareness or inclination to try the new tools out there with cute names and default to the most known and dependable way to connect electronically – email.  Further, without a need to learn how to use something else, they will continue to rely on email.  Would Flickr be easier?  Yes.  Does Twitter make broadcast updates quicker?  Sure.  But "everyday people" don’t use them so after you use all the new web 2.0/social media tools, send an email to make sure everyone gets the information.