Manjoo points out the sometimes unexpected usefulness of an old email, emphasizing that search makes the problem of digital clutter irrelevant:
There's no digital equivalent to the "clutter" of a messy house. When your apartment gets overrun with junk, it becomes difficult to find things - your keys, your cat, your kids. But today's e-mail systems offer amazing search features, so pulling up something important is simply a matter of punching in the right keywords, regardless of how much "junk" you've got in your archive.
We've always been big fans of archive here at Lifehacker, but we're curious:
Do You Archive or Delete Old Email?
( surveys)
We generally believe that systems like Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero or Gina's Trusted Trio give you the same satisfaction of a clean, organized, and clutter-free garage while allowing you to access everything in a heartbeat, but let's hear how and why you manage your email the way you do in the comments.
Why It's OK to Hoard Old E-mail Messages [NYT]