Science

What is email? »Its definition and meaning

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The email, also known as e-mail is a network service that allows sending and receiving messages with multiple recipients or receivers located anywhere in the world. To use this service you need any of the email programs offered by the network. In an email message, in addition to written text, you can include files such as documents, images, music, video files, etc. The ease of use, speed and low cost of transmitting information have meant that most institutions and individuals have email as their main means of communication.

In this way, it was possible to move from the first place of communication media to traditional correspondence, the telephone and the fax.

What is an email

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As mentioned previously, it is a series of electronic messages that can be sent and received practically instantaneously through various web mechanisms (call it an email account directly), either for work, educational, commercial or simply uses. personal. It is not difficult to talk about what an email is, but it is necessary to make special mention of its origins and, obviously, its evolution, thus remembering that, in the past, messages were sent through the postal mail. At this point, you have to get a clear idea that email represents evolution.

But before touching on a topic as extensive as the origin of the email, it is imperative to clarify that emails are not only based on sending virtual messages or letters, you can also send and receive all kinds of documents and digital files, of course it is, with a limit according to its weight and type. Emails also serve as a type of file storage, in addition, you need an intermediary who can store those messages (email companies) so that users are not required to be connected simultaneously.

The origin of email

Although many think that it all started with the arrival of the internet, in reality email has a fairly old date. Despite the fact that everything was handled by manual mail, with the use of technology the need to communicate faster without generating too many expenses began to emerge, or to make use of people who would act as intermediaries in the process (the postman, for example). So, in 1962, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began sending messages through a computer, having the ability to save each file on the hard drive of the same.

In 1965 the figure of the Mail was created through that same computer, although, of course, scientists were looking for the most feasible way to make their wishes come true in the shortest possible time and provide the world with something that would totally change the way to see technology. There was talk of a before and after, a new era for technology. The first message sent as an email (from one computer to another) was in 1971 thanks to the ARPANET network. Later, a person changed the vision of the mail: Ray Tomlinson.

Ray was a programmer who not only managed to send the first mail in the world, but also incorporated the @ as a method to separate the user's computer, in addition to identifying the postal company to which the user was registered. Then, in 1977, emails became a standardized item.

Evolution of the mail service

This system broke all the communication schemes that were known in the twentieth century, first of all because of the utility it generates, well, yes, it is quite useful on many scales, but it is also due to its expansion, because currently anyone in the world (more than 80% of the world's population) has an email account not only to communicate, but also to keep up with education and work. In its beginnings, only certain messages could be sent and with word limits. Resources were scarce, but it was sufficient for the time, nothing more was needed.

But, with the passage of time, things changed. The emails were extended to the point of adding infinities of contacts or simply sending the mail without having to schedule the recipient. The aesthetics of the platforms changed and continue to change, they implemented the sending of other files such as videos, audios, images and all kinds of registration, the texts are sent in perfect and adaptable formats, but the best of all is that it is no longer essential to have a computer to send an email, since mobile devices also fulfill this function.

Email functions

The main function of email is to send and receive messages or files without having to move from one site (as was done in ancient times). To talk about the functions of the mail, it is necessary to mention the protocols for its use, for example, there is the SMTP protocol, its acronym in English means Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which allows to transmit the message from the outgoing server to the receiver. The POP protocol. whose acronym in English stands for Post Office Protocol.

This protocol is the one in charge of receiving and storing messages from your server. Finally, the IMAP system, its acronym in English stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, in it, you can access sent and received messages, store them by folders, download the entire message or do it partially. They can even be synchronized according to the user who has sent the mail and forward it to one or more users of the different mail companies. Once this is explained, we can talk about how it works (specifically).

Emails transmit messages between users of a network, which is why it is on the list of the most important services in the world, especially commercially. If you have the question of how to make an email, you need to specify the user's account and the recipient's address. When the email is sent, the message is sent to your provider's mailbox, after which it is stored and forwarded to the recipient's mailbox.

There it is saved automatically so that, when the recipient requests it, the server will send it to them in the shortest possible time. If the same email is going to be sent to several recipients, it is not necessary to create different sheets of emails, simply create a list of recipients, for example, Ana.gonzá; etc. Furthermore, in the message to be sent, different files can also be attached regardless of their type.

There are many email platforms that represent many privileges or benefits for users, thus allowing, through the different platforms, you can open email, respond to messages (texts, invoices, offers, contacts, etc.), save them on the computer., send copies, create lists for distribution and forward messages. To enter any of the email platforms, you have to go to the email, log in and start sending and receiving messages at any time.

How to create an email account

Creating an email is not complicated, but you have to be quite clear that there are different email platforms. It is always good to have an account in each one, because people can vary from one platform to another, it all depends on its operation, agility, benefits and quality. To create email you have to go to the email page you most want, it can be gmail email or Outlook email. At the top right of the page, two options will appear: Login, Register. You have to select the second option.

Once this step is completed, the page creates a redirect to a form where the account must be created, specifying the username and password. With the user, you have to verify that no other person has the same, so you have to be as original as possible. For the password, the use of uppercase, lowercase, punctuation marks, different characters and even numbers is required. This password cannot be shared with anyone else and must be memorized in order to access the email. After this step, you must continue with the user's profile.

This step is better known as my email, it is the people account or the profile, the full name of the user, year of birth, age, native country or where they are currently located, zip code and add a photo to profile. After them, the contacts that you want to add to send emails begin to be collected, although it is not totally essential to keep them added to the platforms.

The most popular emails

Although there are different email platforms, users will always prefer one over the other, this is due to the quality they offer, the ease of use and the time of experience they have. The 5 most famous on the web are Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Aol, and iCloud.

In the case of Gmail, one speaks of one of the most prominent and important emails in the world for many years. It is the mail provider par excellence and has at least one billion users on the web.

Outlook, formerly known as Hotmail email, is one of Microsoft's tools for composing, sending and receiving messages and files of all kinds. It has advanced storage options, having the option to recover those emails that have been deleted by mistake. On the other hand, there is Yahoo, another very important email platform, although it is also a search tool on the web. In this platform you can delete unusable messages after 90 days, it has 1 TB of storage, spam filter and has more than 350 million users.

Aol is also one of the most famous email platforms on the web, it has an unlimited storage capacity and has been known since 1980 as América Online. Verizon bought it in 2015 (along with Yahoo, by the way) to optimize their operations and turn them into two extremely powerful email platforms.

Finally, there is iCloud, a single platform for Apple devices. This company has a series of very rigorous security policies and not just anyone can access this platform, as it is essential to have a device from this company.

iCloud is one of the few platforms that has, within its functionalities, an automatic response to emails or messages sent through it. Its tools are unique.

Frequently Asked Questions about Email

What is the origin of the email?

The origin of e-mail dates back to 1961, when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated that various users could access an IBM 7094 through one system.

What is email for?

Email is a means of communicating with other people through text, images, videos and URL links.

How to get my email back?

You must enter the recovery page and provide as much information as possible to prove that the account is your own, once this step is finished, they will send a code and then you will have to enter it and click on check.

How can I make an email?

First you enter the preference page, then the boxes are filled with the requested data, such as name, surname, date of birth, telephone number and the email address you want to create, and finally, a text message will be sent with a code that must be entered to complete the process successfully.

What email accounts are there?

There are several email accounts, but among the most popular are Gmail, Outlook.com, Cloud Mail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, Zoho Mail, GMX Email, Yandex Mail, Mail.com, and Lycos.com.