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The Art of Communicating with Electronic Mail |
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One of the most amazing things about electronic mail is how quickly it was adopted as a world standard, and how well it has changed from being the domain of computer specialists to become usable by virtually every person who owns, or uses a computer. The keys to this success have been the adoption of TCP/IP as a standard transport mechanism, and, of course, the adoption of the RFC821 and RFC822 standards. These two simple protocols have allowed for electronic e-mail to be transferred between different systems, and different e-mail clients. Without them we may have been forced to adopt industry-driven standards. But, as we know, the Internet is the greatest open system, ever. It thrives on its openness, and worldwide standards. No one owns the Internet, and no one ever will. If anyone tries to dominate, they will be immediately shouted down, either by governments or by the users of the Internet. Given that RFC821 and RFC822 were based on text-type messages, no one would have really expected that they would eventually support file attachments, and, even graphics and binary programs. MIME has done this successfully, but it has done it in the way that still makes the e-mail compatible with all previous standards. For a while, electronic mails became a bit messy, as not all e-mail systems were quite compatible with the new MIME standards, but with new versions the integration is almost seamless. Now, e-mail messages can be sent as HTML documents, with hypertext links, colored backgrounds, and colored text. To be totally compatible it is often best to send text messages in text format, as you can never guarantee that the recipient is fully compatible with the message format that you are sending. POP-3 has since enhanced the reception of e-mail, as it supports a simple message transfer system which allows many different types of programs to access POP-3 initialized servers. Typically WWW browsers are now used to download e-mail messages. Electronic mail requires a different culture than traditional methods of communications. The key difference is that there is no immediate feedback (as there would be with a telephone call), and that messages can be sent within a relatively short time. These two things cause considerable problems, and most people have sent e-mails which have either been construed the wrong way or have sent messages which they quickly regret ('acting-on-the-spot'). So, as words of advice, try not to send e-mails without first thinking about their consequences (typically, allow yourself a cooling-off period before you blast users with an e-mail that you may later regret), and carefully read what you have written, so that it cannot be construed in the wrong way. One way to lighten-up an e-mail, and to show that you are not being too serious is to use smilies, some of which are given next. For example, someone sending a lighthearted e-mail about not getting a job might say: Well, thanks for your advice, but it didn't help because I didn't get the job. So I don't think I'll be asking you again. -- Fred Smith. Might get construed as abusive, as the person sounds as if they are really saying that they do not want any more advice from the person. A smilie, or two, can help to lighten the tone of the e-mail, and show that it should not be taken too seriously: Well, thanks for your advice, but it didn't help because I didn't get the job (:-<). So I don't think I'll be asking you again ;-). -- Fred (:->) The Internet has also brought Netiquette, which is a whole new language. Users of chat programs often use acronyms for commonly used words. When I first started using the Internet I was lost for a while, as users kept saying things like LOL and ROFL. I didn't know that they actually thought that I was saying something funny. I thought that they were offering me a lolly (in the UK, a kind of Popsicle), and asking about my roof. Soon I realized that BTW was By The Way, and not some new fast food meal. Well, here goes: IMHO, BTW, IRL I LOL when I C Some1 FTF . GTG. EOD. HAND -- WB. One of the great advantages of e-mail, is that people who contact me get my name right. A good old Scottish name like Buchanan (pro. Bu-cannon), can come out in many different ways over the telephone, my Top 5 are: 1. Butch-an-an-a (I don't know where the last -a comes from, but I
think it just comes out) I must admit I love e-mail, because it is really the art of the written word. Many people though, abuse the great gift of e-mail, which is a real shame. The four top abusers are:
E-mail is still a relatively new technology, and unlike many technological advances, it is actually changing the way we work. Thus it will take a while to truly evolve, and like TCP/IP it is one of the true liberators in the world, as it allows the people of the world to intercom-municate, and share ideas. In the past governments have build virtual walls around their country in order to control the information that flows into and out of a country. TCP and IP are, of course, open to anyone reading the messages contained in their communications, but with encryption, not even a space alien could read the message (unless, of course, it was destined for them!). Smilie Description Smilie Description Acronym Description Acronym
Description IMO YGWYPF and THX 4 reading this page. Well, C4N. |
lectronic mail is my favorite application of the Internet. My favorite
question to a new set of students used to be: 'What's the difference
between the World Wide Web and the Internet?' It shows the ignorance
of the media that very few students could even differentiate the two.
By now you should realize that the World Wide Web (the Web, Cyber Space,
and so on) and the Internet are two different things. The World Wide
Web is really just one of the applications of the Internet. Others include
remote access, remote diagnostics, and, of course, electronic mail.
For most the best application of the Internet is electronic mail. It
has really enhanced business communications, and, like the telephone,
has changed the way people operate. 