Using E-Mail on the Internet
Introduction
E-Mail. What's the big deal, you ask. Actually, it's a very big deal. E-mail allows you to send
a letter almost instantaneously to almost anyone in the world in a very short time at virtually no cost. How short?
Usually less than 60 seconds. It can take a longer time with some servers that
do not check for mail so often or if your own mail readers do not check for new mail frequently.
Big Deal?
This has a lot of advantages over conventional mail. It's almost instant, costs nothing (relatively speaking), and you can type or answer in your own time. It is now a universally accepted medium for all forms of informal and formal communication. Great to use with all your friends or colleagues. A word of caution
though, your mail is not 100% secure. There are people who can access your mail. They
are the people in charge of maintaining the servers and ensuring that everything goes
smoothly. Depending on the security of your own computer or the recipient's computer, it can also be compromised or hacked by hackers and spyware software. E-mail at work can usually be read by supervisors, administrators etc depending
on how it is set up. E-mail usually is not held in very high security on commercial web servers. Services like Gmail actually inform you that your mail will be scanned and you will be shown advertisements relating to the content.
How To...
So how do you send mail. The first crucial item is of course a link to the internet. If you are
reading this page, I can safely assume that you already have an internet account. Next,
you need an e-mail address assigned to you. You will usually get one from your internet
service provider. This will enable you to receive and send mail on their mail server. When someone
sends you mail, it will be sent from their mail server to your service provider's mail server, and
stored there until you log in and 'pick it up'. You
will need a mail program like Outlook Express to read your mail offline and type new mail offline (to
save on online time). Some internet providers have limitations on how much mail you send and
receive. This usually isn't a problem unless you attach big files to your mail. Yes, you can
send files too, not just text. That's something you can't do with conventional mail.
If you do not have an internet account with any internet service provider, fear not, there is
still hope. There are many companies that now provide free e-mail service. All you need is
internet access and a browser (IE, Opera, Firefox etc.) You can access it at your school, office or local
cyber cafe. I have signed up at Hotmail and others. With the wide
selection available today almost any company will be able to provide a good free service. The common
limitations are mainly the mailbox size. Your mail is not stored on your own computer, but on the servers
of the company which provides the email service.
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