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Some twelve years ago, there was a huge crowd near the Business Line News Desk's notice board. It was about something called e-mail. The Electronics Department was offering each one of us an e-mail address. We could choose our name or nickname as the ID.

We were excited. We immediately filled up the form, sent it, and waited eagerly for our e-mail addresses. Once we got them, we kept sending messages to each other with words such as `test' and `did you get the email'. After a while, this got boring. There were a privileged few who got real e-mails, but I got none, as none of my relatives or friends had e-mail addresses.

Then came Hotmail. I promptly registered. Then I discovered more online e-mail services such as MailExcite and MailCity. Some of them offered a `huge' storage of 2 MB. I registered in all of them. I kept sending `testing' e-mails to myself from one service to another. I was a proud owner of several e-mail IDs, including an official one, but I couldn't share my excitement with anyone outside as none had even heard of e-mail. I had a tough time explaining e-mail to them.

I now get dozens of e-mails including ones from matrimonial sites that inform me that "Shobha wants to meet you" (I hurriedly delete them before my wife stumbles upon them). The guy who sold the database with my e-mail ID didn't apparently bother to filter out the married guys. I also get so many genuine official e-mails that I find it difficult to reply to all of them. Till I bought my E71, I used to log into my office computer and eagerly check for e-mail. But after I got my E71 and installed a Nokia email client (http://email.nokia.com) that can access up to 10 e-mail IDs, all the excitement has gone. The phone lets out a `ting' every time I get an e-mail and I promptly check them. By the time I reach office, I hardly have any incentive to open the e-mail client, as I have already seen and responded to e-mails through my phone.

But old habits die hard. I still keep looking for new e-mail services and promptly register when I find one. The latest is GMX (http://www.gmx.com) where you can also track Facebook, Twitter and other social and networking sites through widgets. And the first e-mail is always still `test' to one of my e-mail accounts.

More Stories on : E-Mail | Convergence | Come Again!

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