Email (electronic mail, e-mail) is a medium of electronic communication, used to send and receive messages.[1] The email system can be compartmentalized into two subsystems: message handling system (MHS) and user agent (UA). The MHS is responsible for sending the message while the UA collaborates with the user to create, receive, and manage messages. Modern emails are standardized messages that are sent across networks with the assistance of the Internet. Emailing is widely regarded as a popular means of communication, with users partaking in emailing across the world. Email is commonly regarded as the communication tool of choice by academics and professionals. [2] Popular international email providers include Google’s Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s Outlook. While email is praised for its efficiency, email users often face email overload, a state deriving from information overload.[1] Other drawbacks of email include breaches of privacy and scamming.
Technical Development Origins
The origins of electronic mail existed before networks. In the 1960s, email was first developed on a single system.[3] Time-shared operating systems created local email systems, sending mail between users on one system using local infrastructure. Single system email gained popularity and was common among operating systems by the early 1970s.
In July of 1971, Dick Watson of SRI International released “an Internet Request for Comments” (RFC-196) memo, creating “A Mail Box Protocol.” The protocol detailed the steps in which the Network Information Center (NIC) could electronically distribute documents on the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) for printing.
After reading the memo, Ray Tomilson of Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) modified Watson’s approach, suggesting that it was most efficient to share documents to a user’s mailbox and then allow the user to decipher what should be printed. To test his theory, Tomilson used two TENEX machines with single system email programs (SNDMSG), where he successfully sent messages between two different machines. Tomilson made two major contributions to the future of email. First, Tomilson created the modern email address. Tomilson revolutionarily added the “@” symbol to separate the username and the name of the host. Second, by sending the message to a remote user’s mailbox, Tomilson created the first MTA. The email was commonly used on the Arpanet by the end of 1973.
In early 1974, John Vittal of BBN created MSG, a new, stand-alone program that simply sent mail. The simple program only used 30 commands, including multiple commands that are commonly used today. Specifically, Vittal created the move, answer (resembling the modern “reply”), and forward commands. MSG revolutionized email and became Arpanet’s most used software for years.
Popular Providers
Yahoo! Mail
Gmail
Outlook.com
Benefits
Drawbacks
Email Overload
Causes
Volume
Type
Effects
Potential Solutions
Individual Action
Company
Provider
Privacy
Scamming
Scandals
Clinton Emails
Washington NFl Emails
Schissel Emails
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Goodwill Community Foundation . (n.d.). Email basics: Introduction to email. GCFGlobal. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/email101/introduction-to-email/1/
- ↑ Berghel, H. (1997). Email—The good, the bad, and the ugly. Communications of the ACM, 40(4), 11-15.
- ↑ Partridge, C. (2008). The technical development of internet email. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 30(2), 3-29.
