Introduction
The internet has continued to globalize our world as technological advances are put into use. Digital technologies that emerged have enabled the digitization of almost all devices in the world. These include digital electronics, signatures, photos, and media, among others. Communication has also taken center stage as the trigger for more technological advances; these include mobile phones and computers as opposed to former ways.
These ways composed manual writing of letters and face-to-face communications. Communications in writing used to take the form of letters, which were usually mailed to receivers. Manual mailing of letters had several disadvantages, such as privacy and confidentiality risks, since it passed through various channels to its destination. Other difficulties included flexibility, time taken for delivery, response time, among others.
For this reason, electronic communication, which was fast, secure, and efficient, was adopted to improve service delivery and communications at large. In this communication line, several advances have also come up, including electronic mail and chat, among others. This paper will explore the phenomenal email growth as well as whether this growth is set to continue.
E-mail and its growth
E-mail, which is usually known as email, refers to electronic mail. It is a mode through which messages can exchange digitally, generally from an author to one or more individuals. During its initiation, people used to be online at the same time to communicate through email; however, the current technology has enabled the use of computers and the internet to exchange digital messages without the necessity to be online at the same time. These advances have enabled the storage of email messages in servers to allow recipient access even later. The method is based on the store–and–forward, which enables servers to perform the task of storage, acceptance, and forwarding of messages.
Reasons for email growth
Several reasons have contributed to email growth over the years. These include the fact that it does not currently require both participants to be online simultaneously. This has been enabled by servers’ ability to store information. Also, it is fast, making it easy for both companies and individuals to send urgent information without any delays. Accessibility is another reason for its growth; email accounts are provided freely by providers and can be accessed via the internet, which has become increasingly cheap.
This has allowed a larger population of the world to send and receive emails. Emails are cheap and easy to use; this is because of the free accounts and interfaces, which are user friendly, allowing for a few clicks on the mouse and keyboard inputs to send. Moreover, email security is more dependable than other means as these messages are usually encrypted and then decrypted to the receiver. In essence, email growth has been phenomenal.
Future growth
People are increasingly opening new accounts for emails. This is mainly because the accounts are free and simple to use. It is expected that more people will continue to use emails as it serves every category of people. It serves all levels of businesses as well as organizations and individuals. Some security concerns have been raised regarding hackers who access personal information. For instance, Google has faced attacks on emails recently. Such practices make email service insecure, although these can be mitigated by upgrading its security levels.
Conclusion
Email use has been prolific, and only time will tell as it continues to grow throughout the world. With more people set to learn, at least the basics of computer use, it is expected to continue to flourish. However, security concerns need to be considered to reduce its threats.