An e-mail simply means electronic mail and is written as email or e-mail. In this 21st century, email is the de-facto way of reaching individuals or companies worldwide with electronically written text, images, or videos directly into their email inboxes.
An email inbox is simply an email folder where a person or company sees their received mails. E-mail has come to make post office services and workers redundant and almost unnecessary. Unless very critical information must be sent by physical post office box or delivered to your home or office, it has become unnecessary to send physical handwritten messages or information by post.
Some government and private companies still use post office boxes to reach their intended audience; some also use both email and post office boxes to reach the same audience. Ever apply for a passport online or schedule a visa interview? An email address is required to do so and to receive notifications. Emails’ importance in this century cannot be overemphasized. Some of the importance of emails are:
Email is paperless and fast
Email does not require the use of paper, ink, or printing presses to produce, therefore saving the environment and forest from destruction to make papers or ink and saving energy to power printing machine that prints pages or newsletters, letters, posters and so on. Moreover, email is also fast to send and receive by the recipient, because all it takes is just to click a button and technology does the rest.
Emails can be stored
Email sent to someone may be kept in the inbox of the receiver for years on end. The sender also gets a copy of the sent email in their sent folder in the email application, and it can be stored there for years and years on end. Therefore, there is a record of the email, unless both sender and receiver decide to delete their records of that message.
Email is accessible anywhere
True, email is accessible almost anywhere that one gets access to a device that can access the internet. This device can be a computer, a smartphone, a tablet or a palm top. Most email services only require internet access and that is it.
Email is safe
Email is safe because the technology behind email is quite secure. If an email is sent successfully the sender is notified, and if an email is unable to get into the recipient’s inbox, the sender is notified of the error and the email is returned to the sender.
Email is required to register for most online services
Email is a requirement to register or sign on to most online services including social media sites or forums. Even some email services providers require an email to register for an email address, although this can be optional. One of the most important email addresses to own is a Gmail email address because it gives you access to a lot of other services such as Android user account, YouTube, personalized browser experience, analytics, notes keeping apps, and many more. If you ever tried to use online video platforms for video meetups or learning, you would need an email address to login and join the cohorts.
Conclusion
An email address was the first thing anyone gets, who gets access to the internet in the 90s or 2000s. It is still as relevant as it has been many years ago. Even in this age of social media where people have message inboxes with their social media accounts, email is still the primary way of contact that does not limit the amount or type of content to be sent or received.
Whether email addresses will be required in the mid-century or later part of this century, no one can tell. But for now, as it stands, it is important to have and use one to have a folder online to be reached by the world or for you to reach the world electronically.