I completely agree and had come to the same conclusion recently. For the last couple months I have been using Bump for iPhone (full disclosure: I am a cofounder of Bump Technologies) to exchange contact information. As a result I all of a sudden have a lot of pictures associated with my contacts in Outlook. I didn't think this would have a big impact on email for me but it has. Pictures of new acquaintances makes people more accessible and familiar, and pictures of existing relationships makes email more personal. When I receive an email from my brother and his picture is attached it makes me smile.