How can you send a letter to a friend that is delivered almost instantly? You use a computer! Actually, you need more than a computer - you need E-mail.

E-mail, short for electronic mail, is just an electronic message sent from one computer to another computer. There is no doubt this technology has truly changed how we communicate with others. E-mail is mostly a positive change but some people still refuse to use E-mail. They feel it is not "personal" enough when you want to send a letter to a friend.

In 1844, Samuel Morse made history when he sent the first telegram. A telegram let him send a message quickly through wires to another person far away. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell talked on a telephone for the first time. He called his assistant in the next room.

In 1939, the first wireless message traveled between England and South Africa. Who knew that 32 years later we would have another amazing leap with technology and communication?

In 1971, Ray Tomlinson changed how computers would be used when he helped invent a way to allow computer users to exchange messages. Mr. Tomlinson worked for a company that helped design what would finally become the Internet. The first electronic message program only worked on one computer. It let all users of that computer exchange messages with each other in a "mailbox" file inside the computer.

The next step was to send a message between two computers. The first electronic message sent was letters he tapped on the keyboard (QWERTYUIOP). If you look at your computer keyboard, you will notice these letters are on the same row on the keyboard.

To send this message, Mr. Tomlinson did something for which he became famous. He included the AT (@) symbol to tell the computer sending the message where the message should go.

In many ways, E-mail is sent and received in steps that are similar to the U.S. Postal Service (your Post Office). You type a letter on your computer to a friend just as you would write it on paper. As you probably know, when you are ready to send a letter written on paper, you need a stamped envelope. A computer needs a mail server that allows you to actually send your E-mail message to another computer. This server is probably with a company with which you and your family are members that will help you send and receive E-mail. You actually have a "mailbox" within that company's E-mail server. Servers are special software programs that send the E-mail in a way that other computers can understand.

As you can see, E-mail does use words that refer to regular mail. Even the server that handles E-mail coming into your computer is called a POP3 server. POP stands for Post Office Protocol.

An important part of sending E-mail is the address you type in for the person who will receive your E-mail. Internet addresses have two main parts - WHO and WHERE (just like an envelope for your letter). The address for E-mail looks like this example: user@host.com

First, you type in the person's USER name. This name will not necessarily be his/her real name. Then, you must type in the AT (@) symbol. Next, you type in the HOST name. Usually, the HOST name is the name or abbreviation of the company providing you with internet service. After the HOST name, you type in a dot (".") followed by a DOMAIN name. The DOMAIN name tells you something about the organization, which will receive your E-mail. For example, .com is a business, .gov is a U.S. government agency, .net is a network, .edu is educational, and .org is a nonprofit organization.

Now you know how to send E-mail to your friends - no matter where they live. Just type in the correct address and you are a click away from sending them a letter they could read a few moments later. You can only wonder what the next big step will be with communications and technology.