Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 1: Introduction

Electronic Messaging: A Journey Through Time

Past

Some of the first systems for electronic communication (for example, the first versions of ALL-IN-1) were based on a single computer. Users would be able to send messages only to other accounts on the same machine. These messages would be stored in a repository, where they could be fetched by all of the specified recipients. This was a great achievement in its time. It meant that colleagues could send notices to each other from their desks. They no longer had to play telephone tag with each other to ensure that their associates received their urgent messages.

This is one of the defining characteristics of electronic messaging. Like the postal service, it provides an asynchronous transfer of data. Contrast this with a telephone conversation, which expects both participants to be connected at the same time.

Still, of course, there was a major limitation. While a single machine may well have accommodated a department, it was unlikely that a whole organization could have accounts together while providing acceptable response time. The mail system was restricted to local use, and when it was necessary to transmit information across the network, people resorted to copying files.

In response, the Internet took its first stab at the problem, extending the file transfer specifications to include structured mail messages. This solved the immediate problem but was far from ideal. File copies had no mechanism for notification and did not support many of the necessary mail...

< Previous Excerpt Next Excerpt >

Purchase This Book

X.400 and SMTP: Battle of the E-Mail Protocols

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction

Contact Preferences

This is embarrasing...

Customize Your GlobalSpec Experience

Select Your Free Newsletters

Industry Newsletters

Select Your Free Product Alerts

This is embarrasing...