It is certainly the most used application. It frees you from telephone tag, makes a hard copy of what was said, allows you to communicate when you want, and provides a means of sending anything which can be digitized to any other individual who is connected to the Internet. 

 E-mail was one of the first applications to be used on the Internet. E-mail is not just for the Internet. It is one of the basic functions used on BBSs, on enterprise networks, and on services like America on Line or CompuServe. This article will mainly be directed at e-mail usage on the Internet. 

Electronic Mail Defined 

 The advantages over conventional mail, known as snail mail, by network or Internet users is enormous. The primary advantage is speed of delivery. E-mail is almost instantly delivered to the addressee over the medium. This provides great advantages to Internet users, who can send messages to anyone in the world and have almost instant delivery of the message. The next advantage, especially over the Internet, is the cost of e-mail. 

 Messages of almost any size can be delivered anywhere in the world over the Internet for the cost of a local telephone call provided one has Internet access. The third advantage is that the digital message of what was sent can be stored on a computer disk like any other file. And the message can be manipulated just like any other file, ie., edit, print, re-format, or forward to others. 

 E-mail allows you to become unshackled from the POTS telephone. You no longer have to play phone tag to contact anyone. With THE proviso, the addressee must also be on the Internet or network. E-mail, in unshackling you from the phone, allows you to develop your letter/phone thoughts when you have the time to do them, not when someone else is available. Your outgoing e-mail can be generated when you have the time to do it. Incoming e-mail waits on the network or Internet mail server computer until you are ready to read it. 

 Other digitized files can be attached to e-mail. This is a very important advantage to e-mail. Graphic, word processed data, spreadsheet, database, and executable files can all be attached to a e-mail message for transmission through the Internet. The ability to send nearly any digitized file as an attachment to e-mail has great benefit for both individual and business use of networks, especially the Internet. Individuals can send graphics, word processed letters, and other files to other individuals almost instantly. Business proposals, CAD-CAM drawings, financial, and other data can be sent to other business entities with ease. THE proviso still holds, everyone being communicated to must have an address on the Internet. 

 There is a SECOND proviso to be stated with attachments, in that the addressee must be able to open the attachment when the e-mail is received. The e-mail recipient must have at least an equivalent program installed in the individual's machine to be able to open the attachment. For example, a letter word processed in Word 6.0 could be opened by the addressee if that individual has Word 6.0 or later word processor installed. Note, it doesn't work the other way, ie., if I send a Word 7.0 processed letter to someone who has the earlier Word 6.0, then the attachment can not be opened. This holds for spreadsheets, databases, and other specific programs also. This is the format issue. There is a way around this dilemma and it concerns the THIRD proviso which fixes part of the dilemma. 

 The THIRD proviso is more of a computer user discipline than anything else. Text attachments should be saved in ASCII .txt format from which nearly any word processor can read the file. Spreadsheet, database, and unlike computer specific files, such as Apple files, will require equivalent software programs or hardware to open. 

Disadvantages of E-Mail

 The second primary disadvantage of e-mail, especially over the Internet, is that it is not secure. It is suggested that one not send sensitive data over e-mail, such as the combination to one's lock-box. This is a major concern for business e-mail traffic. Outsiders are unlikely to snoop, but one needs to know that there are risks in sending e-mail. Business e-mail may need the additional step of encryption to feel sure that its e-mail is not being looked at by outsiders. 

 There are other "disadvantages" which are brought up at various times: e-mail is un-friendly or impersonal, in that you do not get the voice inflections as you do on the telephone. 

E-Mail Addresses

 Individual Internet presence is indicated by an Identifier known as a User ID. The Internet mail address has two parts; the left side is your individual Name ID. The individual part of the address is separated by the @ sign. The right side after the @ sign is the domain name. The @ sign is the mail box. The two parts make up the Internet Protocol (IP) address. My e-mail address is jwoody@texas.net. The right side (domain name) is a computer which is connected to the Internet. The TCP/IP Internet protocols take care of routing the e-mail to it's destination. All that is needed on the Internet for the e-mail to be delivered is the IP address. 

 Internet Service Providers (ISP) usually have a dedicated server computer which handles nothing but mail. The mail server is connected to the Internet and has an Internet presence. The ISP will assign you a "mailbox" on that mail server and take care of the domain name routing which makes your presence on the Internet. The mailbox is usually given your user ID name and retains all mail sent to you until you access the mailbox to read it or delete it. 

Internet Mail Protocols

 Most of us have dynamic access to the Internet meaning that we dial-up to our ISP each time we access the Internet. The protocol which handles this is called point-to-point (PPP) and means that we are assigned the next IP address in the ISP queue. Once this function is completed, we open our client mail program which opens our mailbox using the post-office-protocol (POP) at the mail server and transfers in-coming mail to our machine. 

 Not all incoming e-mail is simply text; some e-mail may be graphic, colored, sound, or some other format like a spreadsheet. Another TCP/IP compliant protocol, multipurpose Internet mail extension (MIME), comes into play to handle the non-text formats. MIME is usually included within the e-mail client program, if it is available. MIME encapsulates the non-text format into IP packets which look like text and sends them to the destination. 

 The last TCP/IP compliant protocol to be used is simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) which is used to route the e-mail to its destination. Your Internet e-mail client application uses SMTP. SMTP works in the background. SMTP handles e-mail between computers. For dial-up users, this is handled at the ISP mail server. The SMTP program has, as part of its functioning, a program called a daemon, which sees to the delivery. If the recipient mail server is not available, then the sender SMTP daemon parks the e-mail in a safe place and tries to send again in a few hours. 

E-Mail Applications 

 In researching this article, I found 17 32-bit e-mail programs on the Shrouds Web site and 18 32-bit programs on the Tucows Web site, and they were not all the same. I did not look at the 16-bit versions or at the UNIX programs such as PINE or ELM which might be available. I use three versions of Netmanage Chameleon e-mail, and Eurdora Lite on my machines. 

Additionally, we have set up the Netscape browser for e-mail on my demo machine. There is no lack of e-mail clients for use. I suggest that you get familiar with one of the programs and just stay with it. My research turned up both freeware and shareware versions of 32-bit Eudora for example. I have set up Pegasus Mail for one of my business clients because they need multiple mailbox capability on one machine. E-mail is not rocket science, but it helps to really know the program you are using. 

 I recommend that one use a stand-alone client application for e-mail. Others use the browser route for ease of access. Both Netscape and Internet Explorer have icons which allow easy access to the e-mail function. My Netmanage Chameleon e-mail clients all have Spell Checkers. The 3.0 version of Netscape browser does not come a Spell Checker. There may be an add-on for it. 

Using E-Mail 

 Addresses must be accurately done, ie., jwoody@texas.net. Upper or lower case letters should be done as exactly as they are known to be. Getting the e-mail address right is the main reason for using the application's Address Book or what-ever name it has in your program. Entering e-mail addresses should be done when there is no pressure so that the address is entered right. Once it is entered and is usable, then you don't have to remember it ever again, maybe. The address book functions such that when you click on an address, it is automatically entered into the e-mail form in the proper place. Most address books allow you to choose CC: recipients as well. 

 Most graphic based e-mail applications use a fill-in the blank form for the TO: address; FROM: address; Subject:; CC:; and message body. Once the message is done, clicking on the button releases it to the Internet. 

 3.xx sub-directories or Win 95 folders are known as mailboxes in most programs. These mailboxes, with at least the IN:, OUT:, and TRASH: are redeveloped. Others are generated by using a Create button or pull-down menu. These sub-directories benefit you as the user by helping to sort the e-mail into meaningful sub-categories. 

 Signatures are files which you set up to hold information about you that you want to send with each e-mail message. I use my full name, telephone number, e-mail address, and Web site URL addresses I think are cool. 

 If you have more than one computer from which you run e-mail applications, then you need to check the box which causes the mail server to retain the mail. Use only one computer on which to make final down-loads. This will save you grief when you need to find an e-mail and do not know which computer it is on. 

Conclusion

JOHN WOODY IS A TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT SPECIALIZING IN SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS, NETWORKS, AND INTERNET BUSINESS TRAINING.