We’ve recently began to get a lot more spam at work. It comes in the form of attached PDF files that are stock “tips”. (On a side note, have you ever watched the price on these stocks after getting these emails, they do go up for a period, someone is making money here, although illegally). A colleague was talking to me about the impact spam & the cost associated to continually fight it. That got me thinking, is spam really that bad for our economy? Lets look at what it effects. Note: I’m talking spam here, not opt in email marketing.
Hardware – ISP, Corporations, Home users all need more of it, specifically storage devices. ISP & Corporations need better routers & higher performing CPUs. Benefits companies like Cisco, Western Digital, RAID providers, basically any hardware related company benefits here which in turns benefits countries like Twain, China, and other Asia Pacific hardware manufacturing centers.
Bandwidth – More spam means less bandwidth. ISP have to install more fiber, which benefits telecommunication companies.
Man Hours – More network administration is needed to manage and facilitate extra hardware and software, this benefits IT workers
Software – Software companies are making a killing selling spam prevention software. The best part for these companies is that spam tactics change everyday, so their software must too, which is great for maintenance renewals. Sales & Software developers benefit from this ever growing changes.
Productivity Loss – Ok the big question. All this prevention but still spam gets through. How much time is wasted at looking/managing/deleting spam? Personally speaking, maybe 15 minutes a week, which can’t be a realized effect can it?
Conclusion
Spam is good for the economy IT/Tech industry. It keeps the machine rolling. Yes it’s a nuisance but the positive effect it has on the industry far out weighs the negative.
While this post may prove spam’s contribution to the economy, most people want to stop spam before it starts. Spam blockers are an amazing tool that really limit the amount of spam in your inbox. Learn about spam online and get the right tools to stop it in its tracks.
