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Well, we are evolving past the written word. We are now a text-and-forget society. When you are simultaneously holding six conversations on IM and trying to finish up that email to your professor about why your paper is late... well, time is of the essence. The email you type to your professor will probably look something like:
"Professor So-and-so:
My apologies for handing my paper in two days late. Due to unforseen events, I was unable to complete the assignment on time. It is my hope that you will be forgiving and at least give me minimum credit on the paper, rather than the zero that late turn-ins usually require."
While the IM to your girlfriend likely looks more like:
"Hey babe, what's up? I <3 U! *hug*"
And another IM to your buddy may look like:
"Man, I pwned u in that last game of Halo. 0\/\/N3D!!!"
Really, none of it is any less useful or wonderful than any other part of it. The true beauty of language is that it's purpose is to convey ideas, thoughts and emotions. While Shakespeare certainly moves me, hearing about someone getting "pwned" in a game brings more to the front for me than someone saying, "Aye! I killed him oft and verily and henceforth he lost the game by great amounts". *shrug*
Emoticons and l33tsp34k are just as wonderful as Shakespeare and Olde English.
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