Could Gen Z Free the World from Email?

This is a plea for innovation if ever I heard one. Email has some great design properties but also some serious flaws. If a lot of people start sharing the same pain points that aren't being met by current tools, this means there's room for better designs.

I don't think chat could ever be a better email - it's a different medium which doesn't quite fit all the use cases that email serves (even if it creates some new use cases of its own). That begs the question: "What could an open protocol look like that does a better job of asynchronous communication between individuals and groups?"

Email is the last open federated platform still in common use. Losing email means all future communication is by default controlled by a large corporation. I don't see how this would ever be a desirable outcome.

If I don't like my email service I can have my old inbox forwarded to my new one to ease the transition. Would facebook ever let me do the same? I doubt it.