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Email can be explained in terms of postal mail, and both the purpose and basic operating are the same: exchange messages. Yet email can do some things that postal mail can't, and it does other things much better.

The benefits and wonders of email include:

• Convenience - If a desktop computer, laptop or mobile phone is around, you can type your email message wherever you want, save it for later use and send it at any time without having to worry about envelopes, stamps and tariffs.

• Speed - Emails typically arrive within seconds or minutes — anywhere in the world, something that can be said only about a negligible number of the letters I've sent via postal mail.
• Attachments - You can attach any file on your computer to an email message easily, regardless of its type and, mostly, size. It's as easy to send a long master's thesis around the world as it is to email a spread sheet, a report, pictures, or a saved game of your favorite game.
• Accessibility - Emails can be stored conveniently in your email program. Good programs make it easy to organize, archive and search your emails, so any information contained in an email is always readily accessible.
• Cost - Safe for the fee you pay for accessing the internet, sending and receiving emails is typically free.

Email's Problem

Unfortunately, the last beneficial wonder in particular is also responsible email's big problem: spam — unsolicited emails that are sent in huge numbers and clog mail servers as well as email programs.

With hundreds of these junk mails in your inbox, the occasional good email can be hard to spot. Fortunately, though, sophisticated filters exist that go through your new messages and sort out the unwanted ones automatically.