COM 125 WEEK 2: NO MORE SNAIL MAIL

Surfing the World Wide Web has almost become second nature to us. People of the current generation have been surrounded with the marvels of the Internet Age almost all their lives. Humans have become incredibly reliant on the services that the Internet provides that it is practically impossible to imagine life without the Net.

Internet users come across the various services that it provides. Whether a person is doing research, or signing up for a service, or downloading information, the Net has become a tool in life that is difficult to live without. Similarly, every surfer certainly has a way to communicate with others via the Net.

Currently, the most popular means of communicating would be Instant Messaging (IM). However, before the eruption of the IM mania, people used to, and still do, communicate through Electronic mails (better known as E-Mails). E-mail is basically a “store and forward” way of creating, sending and receiving messages over an electronic medium. (Wikipedia, 2007) There are many Mail Servers available online that allow a person to create a free email account that allows a person to communicate with people in the same region, and overseas. Examples of popular E-mail services include Hotmail, Yahoo! and Gmail.

According to Marcus Kazmierczak, a scientist from Massachusetts, Ray Tomlinson, sent the first Email between two computers in his office in 1971. Those were the first Email messages ever sent. Imagine that! More than thirty five years ago, the makings of an actual Email was discovered. (1997) Tomlinson is also responsible for using the ‘@’ sign to differentiate the user from the machine. (Wikipedia, 2007)

Contrary to the common belief that the email was created after the internet , the fact is that the email aided in the discovery of the Internet. Before the Internet, there was the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was the first ever packer-switching network. (Wikipedia, 2007) Internet was created after that, and is considered to be more like the successor of the APRANET. (Rheingold, 1993)

There is no doubt how life would be if there were no e-mails. Snail mail is almost a thing of a past, and international calls are not a necessity at a time when emails can be used. Emails are convenient, fast and cheap. People are not required to be available all the time, and they have the opportunity to communicate at a time that is comfortable to them.

However emails are not always user-friendly. There are many chances for Spam, chain mail, viruses, and email overloads that can occur unexpectedly. However, beyond the mishaps that can happen, emails prove to be a sure-fire way to share information between anyone in the world, albeit family, friends or colleagues.

According to Email Labs, the most popular day to send emails are Tuesday, and the most popular day to receive emails are Wednesday. 25.4% of emails are sent out on Tuesday, while a total of 48.7% of emails are sent out on Tuesday and Wednesday. Therefore, Wednesday turns out to be 'hangover' day, as people tend to open both Tuesdays and Wednesdays mails on Wednesday.

The truth is that people have become reliant on emails. Many people have cultivated the habit of checking their E-mails daily. Some people have even more than one email address to suit their lifestyles. No matter what the future brings, emails will still be a huge part of our lives.



Even younger children will get in on the action. Soon there will be a time when children will send their 'Dear Santa' Letters to Santa Claus via email instead of snail mail. There will be a time when Santa's inbox, instead of his mailbox, will be flooded with mail during Christmas.

Resources:

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. (2007, January 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:34, January 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Advanced_Research_Projects_Agency_Network&oldid=102658527

E-mail. (2007, January 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:35, January 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=E-mail&oldid=103009009

Rheingold, H. (1993). Visionaries and Convergences: The Accidental History of the Net. The Virtual Community. New York: Perseus Books. Retrieved from http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/3.html

History of the Internet. (2006, August 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:07, January 27, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_Internet&oldid=70771572