Com125 Assignment 2: E-mail changed the internet

According to Wikipedia, e-mail is a "method of writing, sending, receiving and saving messages over electronic communication systems. The term 'e-mail' applies to the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, to network systems based on other protocols annd to various mainframe, minicomputer or internet by a particular systems vendor, or on the same protocols used on public networks." In much simpler terms, e-mail is a way to send a message to a specific person(s) via the internet. Not only can you send someone a message faster than mailing it, but you can do so to people all over the world to as many or as little number of people desired. An example of this mass communication is through the charity contest I entered and blogged about in my first blog. I had to get the word out as quickly, to as many people, and as low cost as possible. Thanks to e-mail, I was able to send over 100 people a message about this contest.

Since this advance in communication, the use of the internet has expanded and blown up into something that people can barely live without. Back in the day, hand-written letters were the main way to send someone a written message through the local postal service after paying for a fee, otherwise known as a stamp. Presently, it is easy to send messages to people for free, it gets to them faster, and it can be done at your desk or in the comfort of your own home. Currently, it is almost undheard of for someone to not have an email address because of how fast it had advanced as a way of communicating. E-mail has served as communication for both professional and non-professional purposes.



After the development of the internet and e-mail, as more and more people acquired an e-mail address, it "naturally" encouraged people to use the internet for more functions than just sending a letter to someone. As more and more users get used to communicating this way, people are more dependent on the internet for e-mailing, which encourages them to use the internet for other faster, more efficient functions such as shopping, watching movies, etc. Pretty soon, we won't have to leave our houses to do much anymore, by the advances the internet is making so far.