What is Email?

People have been sending each other messages since history began. At first they were physical signs, then verbal, eventually written, and now electronic. In a time when most people only buy stamps to send out holiday cards or bills, email has become ubiquitous. While a lot of people know how to send and read email, not everyone understands exactly what email is.

It is, in the most basic sense, a letter that is typed and sent over the internet (see previous post) instead of sent via traditional mail. That's it! Only not. Email is popular because of it's speed. Typically, once an email is sent it only takes a few seconds for the recipient to receive it. Just like how you can send pictures with a traditional letter, you can also send pictures in emails, but you can also send other things like a website address to a news article or a cute video.

Here's a small crash course on email terminology:

Inbox- This is where you receive your new messages. This is typically the first thing you see when you go to your email. Think of this like your physical mailbox. You open it to check if you have any messages.

Outbox- This is where messages are kept while they are waiting to be sent. Think of this as your mailbox with your outgoing letters in it- flag up- waiting for the mailman. Mail is only kept their briefly.

Sent- This is where messages you've sent are kept. This has no good analogy to physical mail unless you're the kind of person that photocopies all the messages they send out before they actually mail it.

Spam (aka Junk)- What does canned meat have to do with unwanted messages? I'll spare you the history lesson (it's actually much more boring than you'd think), and just let you know that it's the electronic equivalent to junk mail that typically fills up your physical mailbox.

Practical Tip of the Day:
Often times, new computer users ask "Where should I get my email from?" Just like picking your child's daycare or your TV service provider, this is an important decission since your email address is like your house address- it's where people can get ahold of you- so you don't want to change it too often. There's no clear-cut answer to which email service is best, though.

More and more people are using Google's free Gmail addresses, but often your internet provider (the company that set up the box for you to get internet) gives you a free address as well. I usually tell people to ask their friends which they use, just like where they get their car serviced or who their doctor is, personal recommendations are often the best way to find a good solution for you.