Getting Started Guide

5-2 E-
MAIL
H
OME
I
NTERNET
A
PPLIANCE
–G
ETTING
S
TARTED
E-mail Basics
E-mail (electronic mail) is
very similar to the mail the
postal carrier delivers to
your home or office—
except it arrives much
faster.
E-mail saves time and helps
you communicate more
frequently.
For more information on
e-mail, see online Help and
also the MSN e-mail tutorial.
Access the tutorial from the
Start Page. Click Help, then
select Take a Tour, and then
choose e-mail.
See also ...
E-mail Basics
What Is E-mail?
When someone calls you on the telephone, you pick it up and
you have a conversation with the caller. It's an immediate
exchange with the caller. With a letter sent by the post office,
someone writes the letter, puts it in an envelope, puts a stamp
on it, and puts it in a mailbox. You get it days later. You read
and respond to the letter at your leisure, a process that takes
days.
E-mail is a little like both. Electronic mail is delivered almost
at the speed of a telephone conversation but doesn't require
immediate attention like a telephone call. E-mail is delivered
more quickly than post office mail (often called
snail mail
because it is slow in comparison) and it’s closer to the
informality of a telephone conversation.
With e-mail, you use your keyboard and telephone line
instead of a pen, paper, and stamps. You type a message to the
recipient and send it through the Web. You can send and
receive e-mail to and from anyone in the world who has an
e-mail account.
Yo u r M S N ™ Companion mail service looks like this: