EOTO #1

The technology I researched is email. It was invented by Ray​​ Tomlinson who was working on email with MIT students for the military. They wanted long range communication. Tomlinson created ARPANET and would send the first email in 1971. The timeline of events for email: started in 1972 with the first transaction via email, 1978 - first automated email, 1988 - Microsoft Mail is created, 1990 - spam filter is added to emails, 1992 - attachments extensions to add files to emails, 1993 - Outlook and AOL email services are created, 2002 - Black Berry is the first mobile platform to have email, 2004 - Gmail is created, 2007- IPhone now has email, 2015- 2.6 billion users worldwide , 2021- 4 billion users worldwide. 

A big problem with email for a while was just like computers and the internet, that it took a mathematician who could read DOS code to do anything so the barrier for entry of email was pretty exclusive to those who were rich or were nerds. It wasn't until the worldwide web was created when normal people could start using the internet, use email, and benefit from all the new technology. Once everyone could use computers, email, and the internet because the entry level had been lowered, and now the impact is insane. You can contact anyone all over the world within minutes, if they have an internet connection. Communication will not be the same until there is another big advance in technology when email replaces mail and until something replaces email which will not happen in my lifetime. There are downsides of email such as spam and information overload. There is also more of a downside because with gmail and emails that track your cookies you get targeted ads and unless you know how to block it, it makes it so the internet and email know a lot more about you then it should. What is nice with some of that though is the convenience of being able to have a gmail account that lets you sign in to different sites on the internet, like quizlet or blogspot. This coupled with having a few alternate emails to use for personal use so your cookies do not follow your professional email. 

The biggest pro of emails is that it is faster than mailing a letter. There is also no need for postage or fear of losing it in the mail. Mass Messaging is far easier. It’s free to use, all you need is an internet connection and a device to access it. It’s easy to reference. It’s paperless so if you send a long email you're not wasting paper. It’s easier file sharing for photos, music, and videos. Access is pretty much anywhere with an internet connection. Cons of email are lack of a personal touch so mailing a letter might be more beneficial if you need a personal touch. There is definite information overload with the amount of emails being sent out daily. Spam emails don't always get sent to the spam folder. Scams emails are super prevalent such as phishing. Another big con is that emails can’t be deleted. People often think when you move an email to the trash section of the email or delete it it's gone, but the email is just moved in a server and it is not actually deleted, and it can still be recovered.