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
Email addresses can be hosted by email providers, companies, schools, or organizations. The host information comes after the “@” sign in the email address.
Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo launched Yahoo! Mail in October of 1997 as a free email service.[4] Yahoo Mail was accessible from any computer with an Internet connection. Yahoo released the service advertising that users can use the same email address forever, eliminating any concerns of the impermanence of emailing. With the launch of Yahoo Mail came the launch of many new email amenities. First, Yahoo-registered users can use their Yahoo account on all personalized services. Yahoo Mail users were able to access their accounts on any computer with the Internet. Yahoo also prioritized password protection and management. Recognizing the prevalence of multimedia, Yahoo’s Mail also supported many types of multimedia, including HTML files, text, audio, and video. Yahoo released multiple contact features, granting users access to Four11’s directory of over 100 million email addresses and creating the address book feature, allowing users to create address books to their most-used names, addresses, and phone numbers. Originally, Yahoo gave users a free 3MB of storage space. Yahoo continued to upgrade storage to 100MB (2004), 1GB (2005), and finally unlimited email storage (2007). [5]
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.
- ↑ Simpson, B. S., & Hunt, D. (1997, October 8). Yahoo! Expands Community Services With Free E-Mail. Yahoo! Inc. - Press Release. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20080613170832/http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=173314
- ↑ Kremer, J. (2007, October 27). Yahoo! Mail goes to infinity and beyond. Yahoo! News. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20071016053113/http://yodel.yahoo.com/2007/03/27/yahoo-mail-goes-to-infinity-and-beyond
