How Email came into existance
Mankind has always had a
compelling desire to communicate. In ancient times this could be verbally or in
some form of writing. If remote communication was required (i.e. if the parties
were not physically together) then messages had to be physically carried or sent
by a messenger. Examples of early forms of remote transmission of messages not
requiring a person to actually move between the sender and the receiver would be
in 'jungle drum' or 'smoke signal' transmissions. These were somewhat lacking in
security and privacy.
If 'email' is loosely
defined as 'messages transmitted electronically', then the first 'email
messages' would have started in the last century with telegraph messages (by
wire) and Morse Code transmissions (via airways).
This definition would also
include the telex network that was used extensively by business on a world-wide
basis from the mid-1920's to the mid-1980's. The telex network was independent
of the telephone network and telex machines could connect with and communicate
with any other telex machine on a global scale. Telex also was relatively secure
in that the sending and receiving machines did identifying handshaking. It was
relatively expensive to have a 'telex line' installed and subsequent telex
messages were charged on a data transmitted basis. In addition, for much of its
history, use of telex required a dedicated 'telex terminal' which was less than
intuitive and often required trained operators. [ It may come as a surprise to
many in this age of computers and chips everywhere that telex is still operating
and being used throughout the world.]
During the 1960's and 1970's
many companies who were using mainframe and mini computers also used email
facilities on those systems. This enabled users of terminals attached to those
systems to send messages to each other. As companies began to connect their
central systems (hosts) to branch offices and subsidiaries then employees were
able to send email to other employees of that company on a world-wide basis.
Also during this time the US
Department of Defence's research into computer networks was well underway,
resulting in the embryonic ARPANET --the forerunner to the now global Internet.
According to information regarding these early years, the first ARPANET network
email message was transmitted in 1971.
In the late-1970's and
1980's the phenomenal growth of personal computers (Apple II 1978 - 1985; IBM PC
1983 and Apple Macintosh 1984) created a whole new genre of email technologies.
Some of these systems were proprietary 'dial-up' systems such as MCI Mail,
EasyLink, Telecom Gold, One-to-One, CompuServe, AppleLink etc. For two people to
exchange messages remotely on these systems they had to both be subscribers. The
proprietary systems did not interoperate or transmit messages from one system to
another, or for the few systems that did these were notoriously unreliable — a
reason for eventual demise of most of these systems. At the same time, companies
and enthusiasts were setting up 'bulletin board systems' (BBS) which were often
used both to send/receive messages and to exchange information.
A couple of facts are worthy
of note at this juncture:
| a) |
there were
over one million Apple II computers sold before the first 'PC' was even
released; |
| b) |
there were
hundreds-of-thousands of personal computer users sending and receiving
'email messages' using dial-up systems prior to the Internet becoming
available for general use. |
In parallel with the
development of the personal computer market, companies were connecting the
personal computers increasingly being used by their staff, to both their
mainframe/midrange systems and to "LAN-based" email systems. When connected to
the mainframe/midrange systems they were often being used in 'terminal
emulation' mode and therefore the email being used was the same as for the
dedicated terminals. The LAN-based systems often had much easier-to-use
interfaces and offered more functionality, such as the ability to send
attachments with email messages.
As the company networks
slowly evolved from terminal-based host-access applications through to PC work
groups, the Internet was becoming more widely used for access to information.
Firstly for military use, then academic and commercial communications. The
history of the Internet and its creation is a complex issue. See the reference URL's at the end of the email FAQ
Part 2 for further information.
As the Internet became
available to more people, both privately and through company connections, the
email facilities available to users have evolved from the proprietary email
systems available within company networks and via host-based systems through to
the current trend of "Intranets" which are effectively private mini-Internets,
using the standards-based Internet services, such as mail & web servers in
place of proprietary ones.
Since 1995 both the Internet
and email have been 'hot' topics. But when one cuts away the hype, one realizes
that email itself is not new. What is relatively new however is that email is
now:
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