Do you remember the first time you used email? I do.
My first email experience was back when interoffice mail was still the only way to communicate with coworkers and U.S. mail was the way to communicate outside.
I always followed the computer industry by reading trade publications to keep current with the state-of-art. One day, I read an article and the author invited readers to express their comments and he posted an email address.
Coincidentally, I had just seen a memo at work where the company's IBM PROFS Notes system now allowed sending email outside the company. I never used the IBM mainframe, but I did have an account on it due to a prior project that mated with it. On a lark, I typed up a PROFS blurb expressing my thoughts on the article and sent it off. (Back then you had to insert the email address in the top of the body of the message. Weird.)
An hour later, I had a answer from the magazine author. WOW! Instant communications! I was hooked.
I started looking for email addresses that I could send messages to.
I also started sending a "Morning Message" of quotes, humor and puns to a few coworkers and Toastmaster buddies. After I got my personal email address, that morphed into a daily email of clean humor. I published that daily for over five years. I received so many off-colored jokes back from my subscribers that I started the "Castaways" as a daily email for those. Some of my subscribers for that one were professional wrestlers -- which I guess figures.
I have had my current personal email address for over 20 years. That means my daily in basket tally is around 70 emails. Mostly ads and spam that gets deleted unread.
What's your email experience?
How cool that you remember your first email message and response, DC! I do not remember mine but I do remember chatting online for the first time. I was in college in the 1980s and was chatting with students in another city. I am sure some of my homework suffered for a few days as I was hooked and blown away by the technology.
ReplyDeleteEmily In Ecuador | Emily in Puerto Lopez
My initial business communications were done via a bulletin board. Then slowly email worked it's way into the mix. My biggest challenge was determining what in-house software to use for internal emails.
ReplyDeletePersonal emails - I've had too many to count. The first was AOL, that was followed by Earthlink and Penn.com (later purchased by Earthlink). I got in on the beta for Gmail and have never looked back. BUT, I still have my old Earthlink account that forwards to Gmail.
Donna B. McNicol|Author and Traveler
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