Email is the new status symbol?

So says the New York Times. My favorite part:

Mr. Gates does not use e-mail for work, said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, and besides, he sees the president often enough that he does not need it to communicate with him by e-mail.

I send e-mail to people that I see every single day. It’s a weird idea to me that someone thinks they could “not need” to send e-mail to the President.