Getting the Most Out of E-Mail

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by Faithe Wempen

From the dawn of history, people have needed reliable methods of sending private messages from one person to another. Ancient kings would send messengers running across the moors to deliver invitations to the palace in the next kingdom. The "relatives back east" would send condolences to their intrepid pioneer kinfolk by the Pony Express. And today we drop a Christmas card in a U.S. Post Office box to be delivered by the Postal Service. The delivery method changes, but the messages stay pretty much the same.

Electronic mail (e-mail) is the next generation of delivery services. You type a message on your computer, use your modem to dial up the Internet, and press a few buttons, and your mail is whisked through a vast, interconnected network of Internet wires and connections to your addressee's computer. (Of course, in order for e-mail to work, your recipient has to have a computer connected to the Internet too. Otherwise you're back to licking the stamp at the Post Office.)

This article looks at the basic components you need in order to start using e-mail (namely, an Internet connection and an e-mail program.) We'll also run quickly through the process of using a typical e-mail program to send, receive, and manage e-mail.

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Further Information

Your Internet Connection	Choosing Your E-Mail Software	Setting Up Your E-Mail Program
Sending E-Mail	You've Got Mail!	Writing Back: Replying to a Message