E-mail is out of control.

In the movie "GhostBusters," the evil Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is the result of the thoughts of Dr. Raymond Stantz. He and his colleagues were asked to choose "the destroyer." Thinking of the most benign thing possible, Dr. Stantz allow the image of the seemingly harmless advertising icon to enter his mind and the evil incarnation is born.

E-mail has become the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of the Internet. This seemingly benign application that allowed people to communicate text has gotten out of control.

Let's take Microsoft as an example. Not that long ago, Outlook PST files had a 2 gigabyte maximum file size. Now the default file size is 20 gigabytes and it is no longer the ceiling.

Microsoft's change represented a more than ten-fold increase in the expected file size in just four years. Much like the harmless marshmallow icon that grew from a few inches on a product package, e-mail has become a monster.

If ten-fold growth in e-mail size is not bad enough (attachments helped a lot, I know), many of us have resorted to a near-crazy approach to e-mail organization -- multiple addresses. For years now, I have tried to separate my e-mail into five categories.

1. Work e-mail address
2. Personal e-mail address
3. Separate e-mail address - for business outside interests
4. Free online service e-mail address - for general e-mail, shopping logins, class reunion contact, frequent-flyer updates and potential junk mail targets when signing up for anything
5. Wireless phone e-mail address -- which I do not publish or use except as a place to receive information. I did not ask for it, it came with my wireless phone

If multiple e-mail addresses were not enough, we also have:

1. E-mail distribution lists
2. Alias addresses

I have declined additional addresses from:

1. My cable provider
2. Other free online services

My brother and I regularly have discussions about e-mail. He is, like me, frustrated by the proliferation and nearly uncontrolled use and abuse of e-mail. We agree on some points and differ on other points. Here are some of the more important ones:

E-Mail as a File Repository

My brother, the engineer, has stated that e-mail is not a file repository. My response, as the business professional, is that it should be. I can't tell you how many times I am going back into my structured e-mail to find something to prove to someone, explain something or remember who said what, when and what it was about. Simply saving attachments to your hard drive means you have to detach the file from the meaning. He has not convinced me yet and Microsoft's change to a ten-fold-plus increase of file size states that I am unfortunately winning the argument.

Multiple E-Mail Addresses

Both my brother and I have different e-mail addresses for different purposes. This is an area we agree on. Often, I send an extra message by instant messenger to let him know I sent him something important and which e-mail address it was sent to. While it clearly increases the management, administration and technology overhead, we have both found this an area where we agree. Having multiple e-mail addresses allows us to put some organization into the chaos - at least into five separate bins.

Universal Inbox

The combination of e-mail, attachments, voice mail, fax, and whatever else the engineers of tomorrow can think of to put into one inbox has become known as the universal inbox or unified messaging. I think we both agree with Alton Brown; a unitasker has no place in the kitchen (or in IT). Although unified messaging is constantly changing, like a good cable program, you have to stay tuned in often to keep up with the story.

Mobile Connection

Marie was little bit country and Donny was a little bit rock 'n' roll. I carry a BlackBerry and my brother carries a Treo. The debate will continue. Enough said about all four.

Taming Unwanted E-Mail

For years now, my brother and I have rarely traded humorous e-mails. Both of us get so much unwanted e-mail that we take turns educating our mother on checking Snopes before forwarding some of the creative e-mail messages she gets. While the legal world wrestles with controlling unwanted e-mail, we tend to just not bug each other unless it is so funny we can't stand it. Monster or mutation, e-mail inbox or universal inbox, you must be prepared for change and challenges ahead. As "GhostBusters" showed, there is sure to be a sequel. More villains and more heroes. In the end, we hope we all survive.