What is Email?

mailbox

Most people use the Internet primarily to email and surf the World Wide Web.

Simply put, email, or "electronic mail," is the process of sending and receiving messages over the Internet.

While email is similar to a traditional mail system, or "snail mail," as it's sometimes referred to, it's also very different. See the chart below.

  "Snail" Mail Email
What is mailed?

 

Letter, Card, Postcard, Larger packages 
 

Electronic Text Message, electronic pictures, etc. 
 
In what is it delivered? Envelope, etc Packet:
A piece of text delivered over the Internet
Who is it from? Sender:
John Doe 

 		 Sender:
John Doe
Who is it for? Recipient:
Jane Doe


 		 Recipient:
Jane Doe
Address? 123 Somewhere Street
Somewhere, NC, 22222		 janedoe@gcflearnfree.org
Who/What delivers it? Mail Carrier/Mailman 
 

Mail Server and Email client software:

Rely on one another to both send and deliver email
Where is it delivered? Mailbox Email client software's INBOX:
Text editor used to compose, send, receive and manage email
Delivery Time? Varies, usually 2 days A few minutes unless technical problems

Important pointAfter reading your email, you can save it, forward it to others, or delete it. If you want paper copies, you can print your email messages.

Important pointTo review, watch a short movie clip (that will open in a new window) describing the concept of email.