THE JOY OF ELECTRONIC MAIL

By Dave Wallace

RIVER BENDER -October 1998

E-mail is without a doubt the workhorse of the Internet. And yet it may come as a surprise that it wasn't even envisioned by the early designers who intended Internet to be a way for military contractors to share computer programs. But it caught on very quickly and became popular as soon as e-mail software was developed. Today e-mail accounts for a lion's share of Internet's worldwide traffic.

Last month we discussed the bad side of e-mail called "spamming" or receiving unsolicited e-mail. Let's talk about the good side of e-mail. I predict that within a few years, practically everyone will have an e-mail address and probably more words will be transmitted by e-mail than by postal service, now referred to as "snail-mail." Very likely, the postal service itself will go electronic. Also your TV set will probably alert you of incoming e-mail in the future.

What's so great about e-mail? I had it back in the early '80s when I worked at AT&T and loved it because it ended the pile of paper in my in-box every day. Nowadays practically every company of any size uses e-mail, if only for intra-company business. As a retiree, I enjoy e-mail because it allows the members of our family who are scattered around the country to keep in touch. My brother and I hardly ever wrote letters when we were busy working but now messages go back and forth constantly discussing politics, stocks, sports, hobbies, jokes, and generally what's going on in our daily lives. What's nice is that the messages are sent and received within a few seconds or minutes.

How does e-mail work? Most people subscribe to a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) to obtain full access to Internet that includes e-mail. This establishes a personal in-box at the ISP where incoming mail resides until you dial into the ISP and download it to your PC. E-mail software that comes with all new PCs or from your ISP let you read the mail, send a reply or originate messages to numerous people simultaneously. Although the messages must be in text format, attachments to a message can be in binary format permitting one to attach such things as pictures, software programs, music and animations. Ever get a birthday card with animated singing frogs?

Another way to have e-mail is to establish a free e-mail account using someone else's PC connected to the Internet, such as at a friend's house, at work or perhaps at a college or library. One such offering is called "Hot-Mail" by Microsoft. It's free because your mail is accompanied by advertisements. For people without a PC it's a pretty good deal if you don't mind leaving home to get your mail.

In the New Bern Computer Users Group, e-mail is used extensively to send announcements of meetings, minutes and member lists to 225 members by simply addressing the message to NBCUG . The message goes to the ISP where it triggers a mass mailing list (thanks to Carolina Connections). Also club members with PC problems can send out queries for help. That's quite a benefit in being a member of NBCUG and it's free.

Today it has become commonplace to ask for one's e-mail address along with their telephone number. Practically every company that advertises on the Internet now has an e-mail address and many use it in place of an 800 number. In a matter of minutes, one can search for companies and send messages asking about products or prices. There's no question about it - e-mail is here to stay. I love it!

Next month we'll talk about senior citizens and computers.