E-mail is short for 'electronic mail', E-mail is a method of communicating text messages (occasionally with other forms of information 'attached') across the computer networks. Messages are typed into  computers or web-tvs connected to the internet and sent to one or more destination addresses on other computers. People create e-mail accounts on network machines which, like mailboxes, store incoming addressed information, and which will display or transmit those messages when given the correct password. Communication can be between individual e-mail accounts or on groups called e-mail lists.

E-mail can be read by a network computer connecting to the mailbox computer and accessed through a server-side (meaning running on the remote computer) mail reader program, or can be downloaded, via an e-mail transmission protocol such as POP or IMAP, to 'client' mail reader software running on a personal or temporarily net-connected computer. Some common client mail browsers are Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape Mail, Pegasus, etc...

An email address consists of two parts, separated by an at sign (@).  There should be only 1 @ in an email address, and NO SPACES. If you don't know for sure, assume the email address is all lowercase.

The part before the @ is the individual to whom the mail is going.

The part after the @ is the site which delivers the mail to this person (again, sort of like the local Post Office).  This site is called the "mail server". A person can have email accounts at more than one mail server.

When you type an e-mail message, you put the e-mail address in the To: field of the e-mail message.

If you make typing errors in an e-mail address, your e-mail might get rejected by that mail server. They'll send you an error message saying something like "There has been a fatal error. No such username." This means that they don't have an account of that name at their system.

If you mis-spell someone's e-mail address, and that mail server has a user with that account name, your e-mail message will get delivered to them instead. Be very careful while typing e-mail addresses.

All e-mail programs have similar features such as:

• An In box for email that has just come "in" to your computer, and an Out or Sent box for copies of email that you've sent out from your computer.

• A way to send a new mail message.

• A way to reply to messages that someone else has sent to you, and a way to quote part or all of the message that you are replying to.

• A way to sort messages by sender, date sent, subject, and sometimes more.

• A way to forward a message somebody has sent you to someone else.

• A way to store people's email address in an Address Book or Nickname file.

• A way to save messages that people have sent you to a folder other than your In box.
  

What Makes Email Different?

Electronic communication, because of its speed and broadcasting ability, is fundamentally different from paper-based communication. Because the turnaround time can be so fast, email is more conversational than traditional paper-based media.
In a paper document, it is absolutely essential to make everything completely clear and unambiguous because your audience may not have a chance to ask for clarification. With email documents, your recipient can ask questions (almost) immediately. Email thus tends, like conversational speech, to be sloppier than communications on paper.

This is not always bad. It makes little sense to slave over a message for hours, making sure that your spelling is faultless, your words eloquent, and your grammar beyond reproach, if the point of the message is to tell your co-worker that you are ready to go to lunch.

Email also does not convey emotions nearly as well as face-to-face or even telephone conversations. It lacks vocal inflection, gestures, and a shared environment. Your correspondent may have difficulty telling if you are serious or kidding, happy or sad, frustrated or euphoric. Sarcasm is particularly dangerous to use in email.
Another difference between email and older media is that what the sender sees when composing a message might not look like what the reader sees. Your vocal cords make sound waves that are perceived basically the same by both your ears as your audience's. The paper that you write your love note on is the same paper that the object of your affection sees. But with email, the software and hardware that you use for composing, sending, storing, downloading, and reading may be completely different from what your correspondent uses.

Your message's visual qualities may be quite different by the time it gets to someone else's screen.
Thus your email compositions should be different from both your paper compositions and your speech.