What is electronic mail?
Q: What is electronic mail?
A: Electronic mail (or e-mail or email) is an Internet service that allows people who have an e-mail address (accounts) to send and receive electronic letters.
Q: How does it compare to regular postal mail?
A: Electronic mail is much faster than snail mail when sending over long distances, and usually free.
Q: What is spam in the context of email?
A: Spam in the context of email refers to unwanted emails that users may receive.
Q: How can programs be used to detect spam?
A: Programs used for sending and receiving mail can detect spam and filter it out nearly completely.
Q: What do you need in order to send or receive emails traditionally?
A: To send or receive an email in the traditional way, one needs a device (computer, phone etc.) connected to the Internet and an e-mail program (simply called mailer).
Q: What does a typical email address look like?
A: The most common format for email addresses looks like [email protected].
Q: Is there a different way of sending/receiving emails other than the traditional method?
A: Yes, some companies let people send and receive emails for free from a remote website - this is known as "webmail". Additionally, Microsoft invented its own "communication protocol" called "Exchange" which works differently from the traditional method.
